The Little Babe
by InsanelyOkay
Summary: "Yeah, there is something that I'd like to say, and make sure that it reaches Angus MacGyver. 'Don't promise that you'll save me from all this, because we both know how well you keep your promises." How will Mac deal with the return of someone from his life back in Mission City? Especially when the circumstances of the return are less than ideal.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Greetings and salutations, my dudes! This is my first fanfiction ever, so sorry in advance for any formatting mistakes or mistakes in the story itself. I have attempted, to the best of my ability, to use this new site and I hope it worked out. Anyways, a quick note before I get to the story, the first couple chapters will be much longer than the rest of the chapters.**

* * *

 **Chapter One**  
Babette knew that she wasn't going to have a normal life the second that the caseworker dropped her off at a tiny house in the middle of Mission City. The young, raven-haired girl might only be five years old, but she was already aware that her circumstances were not what one might consider normal. Not only had she been diagnosed with Mirror-Touch Synesthesia just a few weeks ago, but she was also considered to have a near-photographic memory.

This young girl had been abandoned by her parents at the age of two after they had to go on the run, having been caught running an illegal smuggling ring, and then she was kicked out of her foster home at the age of five for "mouthing off" to her new "parents." Honestly, Babette didn't realize that explaining to her foster parents why she didn't want to eat her vegetables, in a manner that might be considered more diplomatic than the average five-year-old was capable of, was considered "mouthing off." Besides, she had only done it a few times. But, her foster parents weren't the kindest of people so, here she is, standing on the steps of this small house and holding her teddy bear tight against her chest.

The caseworker steps out of the car, small suitcase in hand, and then walks up the stairs to where Babette is. She sets the suitcase next to the five-year-old and then pats down her hair in what is supposed to be a reassuring way, but only serves to remind Babette of how helpless she is in her own situation. The caseworker knocks on the door and then pushes Babette forwards as the door opens to reveal a tall man with a shiny, completely bald, head.

"Oh, hello. You must be Babette." The man crouches down and rests his hands on his knees so that he can speak to the girl at eye level. His actions seem kind, but his eyes shine with annoyance. "Welcome to our little orphanage."

Babette gives a squeak of indignation as the man calls her by her first name, but she doesn't say anything as she shuffles into the house. She continues to hold the teddy bear tightly, using it like a barrier between her and the rest of the world. The man stays outside for a moment longer to speak with the caseworker before he comes back inside, Babette's small suitcase looking even smaller in his large hands. He sets the suitcase down by the stairs and then walks over to the young girl.

"Why don't I introduce you to the other kids in the orphanage?" He looks over at her for a moment before whistling loudly, and rather harshly, to get the attention of the house's eight other occupants

Babette tucks her teddy bear under her chin as the sound of feet comes thundering down the small flight of stairs. She brushes her black hair over her face as one of the three girls walks up to her. The other girl has a mop of red hair that sticks up in random curls and she has a crooked-toothed smile.

"Hello there. I'm Carla." The ten-year-old bounds up to Babette and pats her on the head with a laugh, as if she were petting a puppy. "What's _your_ name?"

Babette glares at the older girl and ducks away from her hand without dignifying her with a response. The five-year-old goes over to the staircase and quickly runs up the stairs, taking them two at a time. She finally reaches the top of the stairs, quite a feat for her little legs, and then curls up against the wall in a raven-haired heap. Several minutes pass, during which Babette can hear the shiny headed man yelling downstairs, and then she hears the sound of footsteps pounding up the steps.

The man slides down the wall next to her, any traces of kindness gone from his face as he tightly grabs the back of her neck. His eyes are glowing pits of fury, at least, that's what they look like to the young girl as she sniffles and rubs a small hand over her face.

"Sorry, Mr. Shiny Head." Babette sniffles as she sits up and tucks her teddy bear against her chest. "Was gonna go to my room. Couldn' find it."

He shakes his head and stands up, pulling the little girl up by her arms. He then drags her down the hall and towards a small room at the end of the hall. The man shoves her into the room with a grunt before tossing the suitcase next to her and slamming the door.

Babette crawls over to the edge of the small bed before pulling herself up onto the ratty mattress. She lays back with a quiet sniffle as she hugs her teddy bear and slowly pulls the thin blanket over herself, not even bothering to change out of her clothes. The little girl's eyes slowly droop shut as the lights around the rest of the house are beginning to shut off.

The next day, Babette had decided that she would spend as little time in the house as possible and so, as soon as she'd finished her measly bowl of oatmeal, she shuffled over to where the tall man stood. She pulls at his sleeve as she holds her teddy bear tucked under one arm.

"Mister, could I go outside, please?" Babette pulls at his sleeve again as she bounces on her toes. She had tossed her bear to the side as she began to plead with the bald man.

The man glares at her for a moment before a small smirk stretches across his face. He nods slowly and then places a hand on her shoulder to lead her towards the door. "What a wonderful idea. Why don't you walk to the park down the street?"

"Thank you!" Babette smiles widely and then runs over to the door. She pushes it open and then begins walking down the street. The five-year-old doesn't stop to think that she has no idea where the park is, so she continues on in a random direction. She walks for a few minutes and, just by pure luck, comes across the small park.

The park is completely empty except for one other person, a blond boy, who is sitting on the empty swing set. Babette walks over to the swing set and pulls herself onto one of the swings, her stubby legs barely reaching the ground.

The blond boy looks over at her, blue eyes watching the much younger child with curiosity. The boy couldn't be any older than fifteen, but the five-year-old was certainly under the impression that he was much, much older than her. She turns to look at him, brown eyes meeting blue.

"Hello." The boy speaks very quietly as he glances over at Babette. He blinks slowly, as if thinking something through, before speaking again. "I'm Mac, who are you?"

Babette is startled by the boy's sudden question and she almost doesn't give him a response, mostly out of shock and a little bit of fright. After a second, she gives a small nod and speaks softly. "I'm Babette. But I don' like it."

"It? Your name, you mean?" The boy, Mac, swings closer to the five-year-old as he tilts his head in curiosity. "I don't like my name either."

"Mac isn't bad." Babette says with a small frown as she kicks her legs out to move the swing. "Why don' you like it?"

Mac laughs as he looks over at the toddler with a small smile. "Mac's just my nickname; short for MacGyver. My actual name is Angus."

Babette giggles as he says his name and then kicks her legs out to move the swing again. She smiles at Mac as the swing moves back and forth. "That's funny."

"Yeah, it is kind of funny." Mac gives a smile and nods slowly as the toddler continues to giggle. He too begins to move the old swing he is sitting on.

"Why's that your name?" Babette stops laughing suddenly and then looks over at Mac as she questions him.

"Guess my parents just liked it. I don't know." He shrugs and then pokes at the toddler teasingly. "At least it's not Babette."

Babette sticks her tongue out at him with a laugh. She swings her legs back and forth as she giggles softly. The swing squeaks loudly as it moves with the toddler's rocking and the toddler giggles softly to herself as it moves, only stopping when Mac speaks.

"Hmm… Why do you think of as Babe for your nickname?" He glances at the toddler, waiting for a response. She gives a quick nod, a wide smile growing on her face as she swings.

The two sit on the swings for a while, Mac mostly rambling about a treehouse that he had built in the forest and Babette grinning as he tells the story. She asks him a lot of questions about the treehouse, but she mainly wants to know if she can go to the treehouse. Mac simply shakes his head, more indicating that she would have to wait and less a negative response, and then goes to continue the story. He only stops as he is interrupted by a loud shout.

Mac whips his head around as he hears the shout. The blond boy looks out at the street and sees a tall man standing at the sidewalk. He continues to shout at the two of them loudly until Babette hops off of the swing and shuffles over to him.

"Goodbye, Mac." She looks over her shoulder at Mac and gives a small smile, moving her fingers up and down in a small wave. As she walks up the man, he clasps a hand around the back of her neck and begins leading her back in the direction that he came.

Mac returns the wave, a dumbfounded expression on his face at the toddlers almost carefree response to this man's almost abusive way to lead her away. He watches them until they've turned the corner and he can't see them anymore. After a few more moments on the swing, he shakes his head and hops off of the swing. His grandfather would be angry if he was late to dinner... again.

* * *

Babette stares at the floor and a single tear rolls down her cheek before she quickly brings a hand up to her face, stopping it from falling with a bit more force than necessary. She knew that the man couldn't have been telling her the truth when he said that she could go to the park, but she had believed him and now she was grounded for the rest of the week. How was she ever going to survive a whole week in her room?

The week crawled by for the five-year-old at the pace of a snail. Each day brought the same bowl of boring cereal (it didn't even have any marshmallows in it!) for breakfast, a burnt grilled cheese for lunch, and a bowl of soup that was a striking yellow color. Babette surely wouldn't have been able to survive the week, had it not been for Mac sneaking small letters through her window to entertain the young girl.

The man knocks on Babette's door and then opens it without waiting for a response. He glares at the girl as he enters and then grinds out a response. "It's noon. You can leave." He turns to go, only to be pushed out of the way by Babette.

The toddler quickly hops down the steps of the small house and then crosses into the kitchen, only to stop short when she sees a small group of girls crowding around the counter. She begins backing away and then quickly goes to the back door of the house. She walks along the side of the house until she comes to the front yard.

She comes to a stop as she sees a familiar face popping out from behind one of the bushes that line the front yard, acting as a fence that keeps the children in and everyone else out. Babette smiles and gives a little squeal as she runs over to greet the fifteen-year-old as he crawls under the bush, probably receiving several uncomfortable scratches on his arms.

"Hey there, Babe." Mac greets her with a wide smile as the girl flops down on the grass next to him. He ruffles her black hair as she sits down, eliciting a giggle from the five-year-old. "I heard you were being let out from the prison today."

Babette nods quickly as she leans against the blond boy with another small giggle. She begins to bite the inside of her bottom lip as she tucks her legs in under her small body. The two sit in relative silence, the only sound being Babette's soft giggles and, if you could hear smiles, the sound of the wide one that had found its way onto Mac's face.

Mac looks over at the little girl with a smile and then nods in the direction that he came. "Come on. I want to show you something."

Babette grins and crawls under the bush, followed close behind by Mac. She gives a loud "Ow!" as she gets out from under the bush and Mac quickly climbs out from under the bush to see what's wrong. He finds Babette holding her arm and sniffling quietly.

Mac frowns as he grabs her arm lightly between his thumb and his index finger. He examines the small scratch on her forearm which was starting to lightly bleed. He hums in thought before sweeping the toddler into his arms and standing up.

"Don't you worry. I'll fix this up and you'll be good as new." Mac looks down at Babette with a small smile as he pokes at the girl's belly. "How does that sound?"

Babette sniffles and tucks her face into the crook of his arm. She twists her small hands in the fabric of his shirt as Mac begins to walk. The girl begins to trace the pattern on the pocket of Mac's heavy jacket and Mac shakes his head, smiling to himself as he continues down the street.

Babette had finally stopped her sniffling as they reached the edge of the forest and she was now wiggling in Mac's arms, wanting to be let down. Mac shakes his head and glances down at the squirming toddler. "You can't go down. I don't know what's out here, so I'd feel safer if I carried you."

She frowns, but doesn't protest Mac's statement, and tucks her face into the crook of his arm again. Mac treks through the underbrush, gaining the sneaking suspicion that the toddler had fallen asleep, until he comes to the small treehouse.

Mac shifts the sleeping toddler, so that she now rests against his shoulder, and then begins to climb up the ladder with his one free arm. He reaches the top of the ladder and slips onto the small porch that sits on the front of the treehouse. He sits down and then moves the toddler so that she's resting in a more comfortable position.

"I break you out of your house and what do I get? I get to carry a sleeping toddler around." Mac says teasingly under his breath as he pats the girl's hand softly.

Babette begins to stir, blinking her big brown eyes slowly as she looks up at Mac. She bites the inside of her lip and reaches her hands up to pull at the collar of Mac's shirt.

"Hey. Welcome back, kiddo." Mac smiles at her, taking both of her hands in his own as he sits her up. He turns her so that her back is against his chest and her little legs hang over the edge of the porch.

"Treehouse?" She rubs at her eyes and yawns widely as she looks over the edge of the platform. Babette grins as she sees the trees stretching up around them.

"Yeah, treehouse." Mac ruffles her hair and then slowly stands up. He pushes open the little door and then steps inside. Still holding Babette, Mac walks over to a small shelf on the wall of the cabin. He opens a small box and then pulls out a Bandaid.

"Look, just like I promised." He opens the Bandaid and then lifts the toddler's arm so that he can see the scratch better. He places the little purple bandage over the scratch and then taps Babette on the nose. "Good as new."

Babette giggles softly and wiggles in his arms. Mac shakes his head in amusement as he lets the toddler down and then kneels down to be at eye level with her. He rests a hand on her shoulder as he begins to speak. "It's going to be time to head back to the orphanage soon, okay?"

Babette sticks her bottom lip out in a pout and crosses her arms across her chest. She shakes her head quickly before flopping to the floor of the treehouse and then rolling onto her back. She looks up at Mac with a defiant glint in her eye.

"We have to go before it's too dark out." Mac moves next to her and then lays down as well. He rolls onto his side and then pokes at her with a smile. "Come on now."

Babette huffs in annoyance and then sits up. Mac follows suit, slowly standing up and looking down at her. She lifts her arms, asking for Mac to pick her up.

He sighs, more teasingly than in actual annoyance, and then picks the toddler up. He holds her against his chest and then moves towards the ladder. Mac slowly climbs down the ladder, careful not to jostle the five-year-old.

Mac reaches the ground and then begins his trek back through the underbrush. He hugs the toddler to his side, attempting to block out the cold that had begun to set in with the quickly setting sun. He shakes his head at the girl's lack of jacket. Who doesn't use a heavy jacket it the Winter?

Babette had begun to shiver as the two of them reached the small house. Mac sets the girl down and then pulls his jacket off. He wraps it around her shoulders and then taps her on the nose. "You keep that. I bet it's really cold in that house."

Babette smiles, hugging the mountains of fabric against herself with a giggle. Mac ruffles her hair again and then straightens into a standing position. He gives a small laugh as the girl begins playing with the sleeves of the jacket that is far too big for her.

"It'll be your early, or late, birthday present." Mac taps his chin, a look of deep thought crossing his face before he speaks again. "Actually, when is your birthday? So I can get you a real gift next time."

Babette's tongue sticks out of the corner of her mouth before holding up five fingers and then speaking. "It was five days ago. November… 20th."

"Really? You were trapped in your room on your birthday?" Mac frowns as he realizes that the only thing that she'd received for her birthday was a boring card that he'd made with a piece of orange construction paper.

"I did get an extra sandwich for my birthday." Babette says this with a small smile, still distracted by the mountains of fabric. She giggles as the sleeves flop up and down with the movement of her arms.

"That's it?" Mac places a hand on top of her head, patting down a loose puff of hair that sticks up on the back of her head. "That's not a very good birthday."

Babette shrugs, flopping the sleeves up and down again. She looks up at Mac after a moment's silence. "And your card! I liked all the cards."

"That's good." Mac smiles at her, shaking his head slightly as the toddler continues to play with the jacket. "I've got to go now. Alright?"

The girl nods, shuffling towards him to wrap her small arms around his leg in a hug. She smiles as Mac ruffles her hair and then peels her off of his leg. The fifteen-year-old gives a small wave and then heads down the street in the direction of his home.

Babette watches him go before turning and crossing the front lawn. She opens the front door and then slips inside, attempting to be as quiet as possible. The man with the shiny head doesn't like it when the orphans come inside after dark. He usually just locks them outside, but maybe he'd forgotten to lock…

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" There's nothing to warn Babette of the man's sudden appearance at the bottom of the stairs, and she's definitely not prepared for the rough hold on the back of her neck as the man steps behind her.

Shebites the inside of her bottom lip as the man begins to lead her towards the back door. He pulls the door open and then pushes the toddler out of the house, causing her to stumble down the steps and then fall on her knees. She begins to sniffles slightly as the cold concrete cuts into her knees through the thin material of her pants.

The man stands at the door, arms crossed against his chest. He glares down at the toddler for a moment before going back inside, slamming and locking the door behind him. The frame reverberates with the force of the door slam and the man grins to himself as he walks up the stairs.

Babette bites the inside of her bottom lip as she stands and then moves slowly towards the side of the house. She looks over her shoulder every couple seconds as she passes the house and enters the front yard. The raven-haired girl then crawls under the small bush "wall" that surrounds the orphanage, pulling the over-sized jacket around her shoulders.

The toddler pauses for only a second in front of the patch of dead grass that serves as a yard. She then quickly makes up her mind and moves slowly down the road in the direction that she'd seen Mac leave a few minutes ago.

* * *

Mac was nervous. He wasn't exactly sure what had him worrying so much, but he had a sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with the five-year-old he had become friends with over the past week. He fiddles with the sleeve of his hoodie as his mind spirals into concern. He grabs a stray paperclip from the table in front of him, but he can't seem to do anything with it.

He'd left her at the orphanage only thirty minutes ago and he was already worrying that something had gone wrong. Mac knew that there was no reason to be worried, but he couldn't help but feel just slightly anxious as to what was going on back at the orphanage.

A loud knock at the front door pulls Mac from his frenzy of thoughts and he gets to the front door just as his grandfather is opening it. Mac walks over to his grandfather, hands in the front pocket of his hoodie. He has the paperclip in his hands and he had begun to twist it apart as soon as he saw who had knocked on the door. Two police officers stand on the small porch and as Mac looks down, he sees the reason for their sudden visit.

"Babette?! What's going on?"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So, this story is very much a WIP and I don't actually know if I'll be able to keep a steady posting schedule. My hope is that I post a chapter every Saturday, but I don't actually know how well that will go. And, I know that this isn't being posted on a Saturday, but... it's New Year's Eve! So, I decided to post this second chapter as a small celebration of sorts.  
** **(I also just realized that this chapter is about half the length of the first and I'm pretty sure the rest of the chapters are shorter. Oops)**

* * *

 **Chapter Two  
** Babette sniffles slightly, arm coming up to her face to rub at her eyes. She's vaguely aware of the two police officers herding her into the house before they go into the living room to speak to an old man. She doesn't know who he is, but he's in Mac's house and Babette is fairly certain that this means that he's trustworthy. Because, if he was in Mac's house then that meant that Mac trusted him to be in his house, so the man had to be trustworthy.

The five-year-old is snapped out of her rather crazy storm of thoughts by Mac placing a hand on her shoulder and then taking her towards the kitchen. Babette begins to bite at the inside of her bottom lip as she hops up on one of the old barstools that sit at the kitchen peninsula. She looks over at Mac as the blond boy begins twisting a paperclip into what appears to be the letter B.

He hands it over to her and watches as her face splits into a grin, replacing the frown that had rested on her face just a few moments ago. The young girl swings her feet around as she looks down at the little letter. She giggles quietly, sniffles forgotten, and then holds the paperclip out for Mac to take it back.

"It's a B, not an M. I can't take something that doesn't belong to me, silly." Mac shakes his head and pushes her hand back. His eyes shine with amusement as she smiles up at him before tucking the B away in the folds of the jacket. "So, why don't you tell me what happened with the police officers over there?"

"I didn't know I did something wrong." The toddler begins to speak, words slightly slurred by a combination of her lack of sleep and simply the fact that she's only five. "The man with no hair, he locked me outside and it was dark and cold, and the dark scares me. My knees got hurt too, so I needed to look for you. You said you would make it better, so I needed to find you."

Mac frowns as he squeezes her hand lightly and then ruffles her dark hair. He then hops off of the stool and pulls her up. He holds her against him as he walks over to the kitchen sink.

"What are you doing?" Babette rubs at her eyes and yawns softly.

"I told you I'd make it better, remember?" He smiles at her and then sets the toddler on the counter. He then turns the water on and brings her feet over to the edge of the sink. "Can you roll up your pant legs?"

Babette nods and begins to pulls the legs of her leggings up. She pulls them above her knees and then begins to take her shoes and socks off. The toddler then shuffles over and puts her feet in the sink.

Mac cups one hand under the stream of water and begins to pour it over the bleeding scabs on her knees. He takes a paper towel and begins to wipe away the blood. He quickly finishes and ruffles her hair with a laugh. "Good as new, Babe."

Babette grins up at him and then she stands up on the counter, arms reaching out. She giggles as Mac picks her up and then heads down the hallway. He pushes open the door to his room and then crosses over to his bed. He sets her down on the bed and then flops down next to her.

Mac looks up as the door is slowly pushes open and his grandfather steps inside his room. His hands are folded in front of him and a small smile appears on his face as he takes in the sight in front of him. "Hey, Mac. Why don't you come here? I need to talk to you, in private."

Mac nods and then slowly stands from the bed, so as not to disturb the yawning toddler. He then follows his grandpa out of his bedroom and down the hallway. They stand just a few feet away from the door to his room and then Mac's grandpa places a hand on his shoulder.

"Listen, Mac, the police said that they found this girl wandering around by herself. They asked her if she was lost and they said that she asked to be brought to MacGyver." Mac's grandpa pauses, running a hand over his face. "She told them that she'd been locked outside of her orphanage and that she didn't want to be brought back there. So, they're letting the girl stay here for tonight and then tomorrow they'll take her back there so that they can research the claims of this man being abusive."

Mac frowns slightly as he listens to what his grandpa is saying and, when he finishes, he shakes his head. "Will they take her away from Mission City?"

"I don't know, Mac. I don't know."

* * *

Babette wakes up late the next day. She blinks slowly as she sits up, confused when she doesn't recognize her surroundings. She is fairly certain that this isn't her bedroom in the orphanage because she doesn't remember her room having this much stuff in it. There are also multiple posters strewn around the room, all about things that Babette doesn't recognize.

"Hey, Babe." Mac had been entering the room just as Babette had begun to wake up and he now crosses over to the bed. He places a hand on top of her head and then ruffles her hair with a small smile. "How are you?"

"Where am I?" Babette squeaks out the quiet question as she scoots closer to where he had sat down. Her black hair sticks up around her head in random tufts and her, well Mac's, jacket is rumpled from sleep. She pulls the large jacket off as she scoots next to him.

"You stayed at my house. The police dropped you off yesterday." Mac pulls the toddler towards him, wrapping an arm around her shoulders so that she is leaning against him. "They're going to come back and take you to the orphanage again."

Babette frowns, resting her head against Mac's shoulder with a slight sniffle. She twists her hands in the material of her shirt as she begins to shake her head rather quickly. "I can't go back. Please don't make me, Mac."

Mac hugs the toddler closer as she begins to cry softly into his shoulder. He runs a hand through her hair in an attempt to calm her down and he rests his chin on her head, whispering kind words to her. Eventually, the crying stops and the tearstained face of the five-year-old lifts from its place against his shoulder.

"Hey, it's going to be alright. I won't let anything happen to you, okay?" Mac continues to run a hand through her hair as she rests her head against his shoulder again. "Everything is going to be fine, Babe."

She shakes her head, hands still twisted in the fabric of her shirt. The two of them stay like that for a few more moments until a knock at the door startles Babette. She snaps her head up and watches as Mac's grandfather steps into the room.

"Mac, did you feed that devil dog of yours?" His grandfather gives asks teasingly as he steps further into the room with a slight laugh. He then looks directly at Mac, a fond look in his eyes as he speaks to the fifteen-year-old. "He tried to escape again, but that fence did the trick. Great idea, the high-pitched sounds."

A small smile spreads across Mac's face as he gives a small nod in response to his grandfather's questions. Babette's expression is the opposite of Mac's as she hears his grandfather mention a dog. She begins to bite the inside of her bottom lip as she curls up against Mac's side.

"Yeah, grandpa, I fed Archimedes." Mac pauses for a moment before continuing. "Um… have they come back yet, the police?"

His grandfather nods and the gestures for Mac to follow him out the door. Mac stands, taking the toddler up with him. She shifts slightly in his arms, very clearly awake but unwilling to remove her face from Mac's shoulder.

As they step out of the room, Mac sees the two policemen from the other day. They are both sitting on the couch in the living room and sipping at coffee from paper cups. One of them notices the approaching people and stands from the couch, quickly nudging his partner.

"We actually have a change of plans. There's been a… development in our case against the man who runs the orphanage." The first police officer, a tall man with curly hair and tan skin, wrings his hands together before continuing on. "A girl was found outside the house. She had been locked outside and she had to be taken to the hospital."

"They're treating her for mild hypothermia and malnutrition." The other officer, a shorter man with a mess of blond hair, continues for his partner. "The man has been arrested and the children are being moved. We're here for the girl."

"You can't make her leave! She… she doesn't want to leave." Mac steps up, standing next to his grandfather. Babette lifts her head from his shoulder and looks fearfully at the policemen.

The blond officer shakes his head and begins to speak in a sympathetic tone. "Listen, kid, she doesn't have any family here, or anywhere for that matter. If she were to be moved into a foster home then maybe…"

Mac's grandpa cuts the man off by placing a hand on his shoulder and then nodding at the door. The officers both look at each other before giving a quick nod and following Mac's grandfather onto the porch.

Several minutes pass and Mac isn't entirely sure what to do. He shakes his head and then sits on the couch, poking at Babe's side as she lifts her head from his shoulder again. "They won't take you anywhere. I'm sure my grandpa will figure something out."

Babe looks up at him, a small frown on her face. She gives a slow nod, tucking her knees into her chest as she leans against Mac. "Okay. I believe you Mac."

Mac looks up at the sound of the front door opening. His grandfather steps inside, a slightly amused smile on his face. He walks over to the couch and sits down next to them. "I need to go down to the police station. A lady from Social Services is going to give me some papers, and then Babette can stay with us."

* * *

Mac's grandpa went down to the station and filled out all the papers. Mac never really understood why his grandfather had decided to let Babette stay with them. After years of contemplating the reasons, he eventually came to the consensus that it was one of two reasons. He either did it for Babette's sake or he did it for Mac's sake, and either way, Mac was grateful.

The same day, Mac grandpa returned from the police station with the papers filled out. It became official a few days later, once the request had been filed and then completed. Everything after that seemed almost normal and sometimes it seemed like Babe had always lived with them. Babette moved into their small guest room just down the hall from Mac's room and soon, because of his grandfather's insistence, the five-year-old had been enrolled in a small preschool.

It never seemed like, to Mac at least, Babette was his sister. He couldn't ever put his finger on it, but he knew that it was different than that. Maybe it was just the large age difference, or maybe it was something else, but Mac was sure that it was different. Even though he couldn't figure out exactly what it was, Mac decided that he wouldn't let it bother him and so he pushed it to the back of his mind.

He thought that things would stay normal, even when he went to MIT, and he never really thought about what might happen to Babette if anything were to happen to his grandfather. When his grandfather passed away, Mac didn't know what was going to be done with Babe, but he was fairly certain that it wouldn't be good. He just knew that he'd messed up. He was _sure_ that this was somehow his fault.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So, here's the next little chapter that I've whipped up for this story. Yes, I know that it's not Saturday, but I'm a nerd with nothing better to do with my life so here's another chapter. Also, sorry for it being so short, but I felt like this was a good place to end the chapter. Anyways, hope that you're all enjoying the story and...  
Thank you so much to WynonaRose for being my first (and only) reviewer! I really appreciate it.**

* * *

 **Chapter Three**  
 _Three Years Later_  
The weather was dismal, and dreary, and cold; perfectly reflecting the somber mood of the assembled people. Even though Mac wasn't much for believing that the weather could actually be affected by a person's feelings, he had to admit that the weather really did fit the occasion. Maybe occasion is the wrong word to use in this situation. Perhaps, tragedy or gathering would fit better. Occasion makes it seem more like a birthday, or a wedding, but certainly not a funeral.

It had only been a few days after Mac had informed his grandfather about his plans to leave MIT, and join the military, when he had received the news. He had already been planning to visit, but he never realized, or imagined, that his visit would be to attend his grandfather's funeral. Mac hadn't realized, or maybe he'd refused to admit to himself, that his grandfather's condition had become so serious. If he had, he might have come back home sooner. He might have been there to hear his last words and to comfort Babe.

Babette, on the other hand, had been there through it all. Mac's grandpa was her foster father after all, so she didn't really have anywhere to go if she ever did want to leave. She had to sit in hospital waiting rooms for hours when she couldn't find a ride home and she'd been there when he died. She didn't feel like she deserved to be there, to hear his last words, and to hold his hand. Mac was his family, not her. She's was just a stray that they'd taken in.

Sadly, that's just the way that things had turned out. Mac had left for MIT a year after Babette came to live with them and, although Mac came back home often and made Skype calls when he could, Babette had been the one to take care of his grandfather. She knew that he wasn't going to last much longer, as awful as that sounds, and she knew that she would have to leave again. After all, good things never last when she is involved.

Babette sniffles quietly, eyes trained on the ground as the funeral progresses. Her black hair is pulled away from her face in a small braid and her brown eyes are narrowed in an attempt to stem the flow of tears that want to spring from her eyes. Mac stands next to the distraught eight-year-old, blond hair slicked back and blue eyes shining with unshed tears. He reaches out a hand, taking Babette's in his own in an attempt to comfort her. She lets out a quiet sob and buries her face in Mac's chest.

"You left and then I was alone." She speaks softly between sobs, voice slightly muffled as her face rests against his chest. "I tried, but I'm not like you. I couldn't fix anything. I messed everything up."

The girl's sobs break Mac's heart and he hugs her closer to him. He runs a hand over her hair softly before kissing the top of her head. He attempts to comfort her with quiet words as she continues to sob quietly. Her shoulders shake slightly as she hugs him tightly, face pressed against his shoulder.

The funeral progresses slowly and once it's finally over (speeches made and tears more or less dried) Babette and Mac return to their home. Mac puts a hand around Babe's shoulders and then enters the small house. He leads her over to the couch and then gives her another quick hug before sitting down. Babette joins him on the couch, tucking her knees into her chest. She begins to sniffle again, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. Mac rests his chin on top of her head as her crying slowly comes to a stop. He the takes her hand and squeezes it lightly before speaking in a low voice to her. "Hey, Babe, I need to tell you something."

The nickname no longer elicits a giggle from the girl, not like it used to when she was five, and she simply lifts her head from his shoulder. Her brown eyes shimmer with sadness and shed tears as she looks up at him. She rubs at her eyes, wiping away the tears that had dried on her face, before speaking in a hushed tone.

"That you're leaving again? That you're going away to war?" Babette frowns as she looks up at Mac, watching for the eighteen-year-old's reaction. Her hair had managed to fall out of the braid and now rests in a mess of black strands on her shoulders which knot together as she watches the blond agent's face.

"You know? How did… I only told grandpa." He runs a hand through his hair as a confused expression falls over his face. He glances over at Babe who had shifted her gaze to the ground.

"I heard him on the phone with you." She pulls at a loose string coming from the edge of the frayed couch before she continues. "I remember everything, or did you forget? I remember the exact time that you call grandpa every few weeks, I remember the look that grandpa gets when he's talking about the military, and I remember his exact words. He said 'You're a brave boy, Angus. And I know that you'll save a lot of lives, if this is really what you want.' I know what he meant, Mac. I'm not stupid."

"Babe… I know that this might all seem a little crazy right now." Mac sighs, running a hand over his face. "I just… I need to do this. And, I'm sure that we can figure something out with your situation."

Babette shakes her head quickly and she looks up at him again. Her brown eyes are narrowed slightly in what Mac interprets as annoyance and something akin to fear. She then looks away for a moment, silently mulling things over. Her fingers tap against her knee in a quick rhythm and she begins to bite the inside of her bottom lip.

"I just don't want to lose you too." She blurts out as she stares down at her feet. The eight-year-old begins to ramble nervously. "I know that you'll save a lot of people, and I'm just one person, and I know that you like to do things for the greater good. But maybe, just this once, you could do something that doesn't save a lot of people. Why do you have to be such a hero all the time, Mac?!"

Babette finishes her rant when a quiet sob escapes her. She collapses against his shoulder with her hands thrown over her face. Mac hugs her against him and speaks in a low voice to her as she continues to sniffles quietly. She squeezes her eyes shut as she tucks her face into his shoulder.

"I promise that I'll come back for you."

* * *

Mac stands at the entrance to the lines upon lines of airport security. He brings a hand to his face, stopping the tears that threaten to spill from his eyes. He slowly sets his suitcase down as Babette walks over to him and he smiles slightly. She flashes him a watery smile and hugs him tight.

"I'm going to miss you, kiddo." Mac speaks quietly to her, looking over the top of the eight-year-old's head to watch the small group of social workers gathered behind her. "If anything ever happens to you…"

Mac trails off, letting the rest of the sentence hang in the air as he breaks the hug. He places a hand on her head and ruffles her dark hair, eliciting a small laugh from the girl. He then presses a light kiss to her forehead. Babe looks up at him, sniffling quietly, and then gives a quick nod as she takes a small step back.

"I'll miss you too, Mac." She speaks softly before turning around and walking in the direction of the small gathering of social workers. They would be taking her to a new foster home today and Mac would be shipped off somewhere much scarier than anything Babe ever wanted to think about. She would also have no way to know what would happen to Mac, if something ever did happen. How would she know when he was returning? Or, if he was returning?

But, Mac had promised her. He had _sworn_ to her that he would come back for her. And, even though the chances that Mac would come back might seem slim, Babette was sure that Mac would come back. She was absolutely sure. This is Mac that she's talking about after all, and he always keeps his promises.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Welcome to chapter four! I hope that you guys are enjoying the story, because I certainly think that it's entertaining. Anyways... My original plan was to post a chapter every Saturday as long as I'm able to write chapters fast enough, but I'm not so sure what I should do now. What are your thoughts? I'd like to know what you guys think would be best. Also...**

 **Thank you Dlwells51 for reviewing! Hope the wait wasn't too unbearable. Still working on my posting schedule a bit. And I'm glad that you're liking the story!**

* * *

 **Chapter Four**

Mac shakes his head slowly and begins to mutter to himself in a slightly annoyed tone as he pulls on his usual leather jacket. He glances over his shoulder at Jack as he exits the house and follows him towards the car. Mac had been crashing at Jack's place after a rather difficult mission and the two were now on their way to Mac's house to begin their Thanksgiving preparations. Mac jumps slightly as his cell phone goes off loudly and scrambles to find it. He turns the phone on and reads a new message from his boss.

 _"Kidnapping. Be here five minutes ago."_

The blond agent taps Jack's shoulder and then indicates the text he'd received. Jack mumbles to himself as he suddenly swerves into a different lane, changing the course from Mac's home to the Phoenix Foundation. He reaches one hand out and switches the radio on, letting the blasting music cover up his angry mutters.

Mac smiles to himself, the first time that day, and shakes his head at Jack's antics. He might be feeling absolutely miserable about everything right now, but Jack somehow managed to distract him from it. The distraction doesn't last long, however, as a frown quickly slips back onto Mac's face and he stares out of the window as they head towards the 'think tank.'

Mac was fairly certain that his foul mood wasn't just based on the fact that his plans for Thanksgiving had been ruined. There was a very high chance that he was feeling less than superb due to the fact that it had been the twentieth of November just a few days ago and that day brought up some… memories. He would just leave it at that.

* * *

"Hey, Blondie, you're welcome to join us whenever you want." Matty snaps at him as she looks over, only to realize that Mac had heard nothing about the case. "But, if you would rather spend the briefing staring at the floor, go ahead."

Mac looks up from the paperclip in his hands that had begun to take the form of a B. He can feel his ears begin to heat up in embarrassment and he quickly tosses the paperclip to the side. He attempts to give a stuttering response, but Matty shoots him a quick glare before continuing the briefing.

"We received news that the Senator's daughter was kidnapped by a rogue group." Several images of the Senator with a raven-haired fifteen-year-old, mostly images taken at press events, appear on the screen as Matty continues. "There have been no calls to the Senator and no ransom requests have been made. We still have no idea as to why the girl was kidnapped… You still with us, MacGyver?"

Mac had again lost focus of what Matty was saying, but instead of staring down at a paperclip, his gaze rests solely on the screen. His mouth is opened slightly in what appears to be shock and his eyes carry the look of one lost in a memory. At Matty's question, he snaps back to the present with a sheepish smile in the director's direction.

"Um… Yeah, I'm fine. Well… Nevermind." Mac stutters as he attempts to give a response. His gaze had again come to rest on the images of the girl. He blinks slowly before looking over at Matty again. "Are we sure that this is actually the Senator's daughter?"

"Why would that even come into question?" Matty demands of the blond agent, a slightly suspicious expression on her face. "Is there something you know that we don't?"

Mac shakes his head quickly as he flops down on one of the chairs scattered around the War Room. An emotionless mask slips over his face, concealing his internal thoughts as Matty continues to explain the case to them. As she begins to give more information on the girl, the sick feeling in Mac's stomach starts to grow. There was no way that this would be ending well in any way, shape, or form.

The briefing quickly finished for Mac, who had become lost in thought once again. Matty had given up in her attempts to keep him focused throughout the briefing, but the sharp look that she had shot in Jack's direction was clear enough. Figure out what's going on, or else.

Mac picks up the paperclip B and then quickly stands from the chair as he shuffles towards the door to the War Room, attempting to leave. He hadn't exactly heard what the plan was, but he was sure that Jack would be able to fill him in, probably.

"Hey bud, what's been goin' on in that big head of yours? Cause I know that whatever it is, it ain't good." Jack's sudden appearance at Mac's shoulder startles him and the metal B falls to the floor.

One of Jack's eyebrows lifts as he takes in the sight of the simple paperclip symbol. He stoops down to pick it up and then holds it up in front of Mac's face. Mac snatches the B from his hand before tucking it into the front pocket of his shirt with an almost desperate glint in his eye.

"Whoa there. What's goin' on?" Jack's eyebrow crawls further up his face as he clasps a hand around Mac's shoulder.

Mac runs a hand through his hair before letting out a breath that he wasn't aware of holding. "I think that I know the girl that was kidnapped."

"You know her? You mean that you really know her, or you just met her once?" Jack's hand moves from his shoulder and begins to poke at the air in front of Mac's chest. "Judgin' by your reaction, I'm guessin' it's the first one."

"We were… friends. Yeah, I'll go with that. We were friends back in Mission City, but we haven't spoken since I joined the army." Mac rubs the back of his neck as his gaze slips back down to his feet.

"She was your friend?" Jack questions Mac, an incredulous expression his face. "She's got be at least ten years younger than you! She must of been just a kid when you left for the army."

Mac gives a curt nod, his fingers reaching into his front pocket to pull out another paperclip. He says nothing for a long while, simply staring down at the small piece of metal in his hands. His mind is racing a mile a minute as he attempts to figure out a response, eventually, he manages to straighten them out and give a quiet answer.

"She _is_ ten years younger than me, and she was only eight when I left Mission City. That didn't stop me from being friends with her. Or from breaking a promise…" The last part is barely loud enough to be heard, almost as if Mac didn't want to hear the words himself.

Jack frowns, one hand hovering over Mac's shoulder as if he were wondering whether squeezing Mac's shoulder would do more bad than good. It seemed like Mac was on the verge of a breakdown, brought on by this sudden stream of memories resurfacing and the fact that this girl from his hometown had been kidnapped.

"Let's just get on with the mission, okay?" Mac takes a deep breath and then tucks the B away in his pocket. He jumps slightly as Jack suddenly places a hand on his shoulder and then leads him back towards the War Room.

"Fine. Get on with the mission." Jack removes his hand from Mac's shoulder as they stop just in front of the door. He then grins teasingly at Mac. "Except, you have no idea what we're doing."

Mac groans in frustration, crossing his arms across his chest as Jack walks back into the War Room. His blue eyes narrow in annoyance as he follows Jack into the room and then flops down in one of the chairs. "Okay. What's the plan?"

Riley, who had been sitting off to the side and speaking quietly with Matty, looks over at them with an amused smile. She shakes her head and then goes back to typing something into her laptop as Matty asks her questions. Bozer hadn't been asked to join them in the War Room and Matty had been clear in saying that the lab tech didn't need to know what they would be doing.

"We're havin' Riles see if she can trace any of the kidnappers, so we're just sittin' here until she gets something." Jack leans over the armrest of Mac's chair with a small grin. He pokes Mac in the center of the chest, a teasing smile on his face. "Although, Matty made it real clear that we are _not_ free to leave."

Mac is about to give a snarky, albeit lacking in enthusiasm, response when the large screen on the front wall of the War Room begins projecting static. He glances over at Riley, who has an expression of confusion on her face, and then at Matty, who's face had morphed into one of suppressed anger.

The static sounds for a couple seconds before the image shifts and a the masked face of a bearded man appears on the screen. Jack's hand instinctively slides to his gun, even though he knows that there's nothing he can do about this technical intrusion of the base. Mac leans forwards in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees.

The image freezes, and static blurs the image for another moment, before a video chat of sorts opens up. The bearded man is laughing at something behind him and, as he moves out of the way, Mac makes a small noise that sounds like a gasp and a shriek put together. The man had moved to reveal a teenage girl tied to a chair that is propped up behind him.

The girl's black hair hangs limply around her face and a small patch of dried blood is visible on her left temple. Her head hangs low and it's hard to tell from the video whether the girl is even conscious. Two goons stand on either side of her, one holding a knife and the other holding a handgun.

The man, seeming to realize that the video message had reached its intended recipients, turns to face the camera with a crazed grin. He taps the camera lense a couple times before speaking in a low and gravelly voice. His eyes shine with crazed excitement as he speaks to the camera.

"Hello there, Phoenix Foundation. I don't know if you're aware, but I did not kidnap this girl because she's the Senator's attempt at gaining good publicity." The man smirks as the girl's head begins to lift slowly at the mention of the Senator and he then continues on with a laugh. "You see, this girl used to live in Mission City and my boss seems to think that's pertinent information."

"This one sure wants to give a good monologue. I can tell he ain't never done this before." Jack whispers quickly to Mac before slapping him on the shoulder with a good natured smile.

Mac attempts to return the smile but it seems more like a sad grimace as it appears on his face. Mac's gaze once again falls to the floor as the man continues on with his monologue. The bearded man had again crossed in front of the camera so that the girl cannot be seen.

"I don't question what my boss tells me to do. As long as I'm getting paid, you know what I mean?" The man gives a small nod as he leans closer to the camera. "Back to this girl here. Anything you'd like to say, Mission City girl?"

The man moves out of the way of the camera and begins fiddling with something along the side of the device. After a moment, the camera zooms in on the girl's face. She slowly lifts her head to look into the camera, licking at her split lips and wincing slightly as some blood trails down from her temple.

One of the guards, following the bearded man's orders, roughly shakes the girl before shouting at her to speak, or die. She takes a deep breath before sitting up in the chair and then speaking in a low voice. Her voice quivers slightly as she speaks, but if anyone notices, they don't say.

"Yeah, there is something that I'd like to say, and make sure that it reaches Angus MacGyver. 'Don't promise that you'll save me from all this, because we both know how well you keep your promises.' "

With that said, her head slips back down to rest on her chest and she lets out a breath. The guards on either side of her are laughing among themselves as the bearded man zooms the camera out and then steps in front of it. The image quickly turns back to static.

Mac has slumped back in the chair, hands covering his face as he attempted to stop the tears that wanted to fall from his eyes. He doesn't look up at the many confused mumbles coming from the rest of the team and he doesn't move as the screen once again projects the face of the bearded man.

"One more thing before I go, I really must get you this message from my boss." The man rubs his hands together, a small smirk on his face as he begins reading from a piece of paper. "Dearest Phoenix Foundation and dearest MacGyver, don't worry about the girl. She's fine, for now, and I'm sure that the Senator won't be missing her. Have fun trying to find her before she starves. Lots of love, F. A."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Greetings and salutations my dudes. Welcome to chapter five! Sorry in advance for the short chapter. I just couldn't think of a better way to separate the scenes. I have also decided that I'll post chapters every Saturday and, if I think that I have the time, the occasional Tuesday. Also...**

 **Thank you thank you thank you to** **Mutilated Pancake for reviewing! I'm so very glad that you're liking my writing so far and I hope that it continues that way. I also wanted to say thank you for your kind offer to help. I will definitely ask if I ever need help. :)**

 **I hope you're all enjoying the story so far. Let's get into it.**

* * *

 **Chapter Five**

The large screen in the War Room had gone completely black as soon as the bearded man had finished reciting these messages to them. All eyes turn towards Mac who had slumped forwards in the chair with a horrified squeak as soon as the screen had gone black. He holds his head in his hands and his shoulders are visibly shaking, whether it be from tears or shock is unclear to the bystanders.

Riley glances over at Jack with a slightly questioning glance, but he simply shakes his head and gestures for her to give them the room. Matty had left a few moments ago to see if she could get a lead on who these people were and to find out more about this mysterious "F. A." Riley gives a quick nod in Jack's direction and she then heads towards the door, pushing it open. As soon as the door is tightly shut behind her, Jack crouches down in front of Mac, resting a hand on the boy's knee.

"Hey. Mac, buddy." He squeezes his knee and tries to catch the blond boy's gaze as he looks up at Mac. "I think that, maybe, you shouldn't be on this mission."

Mac's head lifts so quickly that Jack is sure that he must have given himself at least some amount of whiplash. The blond agent shifts his gaze so that he's looking down at Jack with a wide frown on his face. His voice cracks as he begins to speak and he quickly clears his throat before trying again. "I can't do that. I need to get her back."

Jack shakes his head and speaks again, glancing at Mac with a worried frown. He pats his knee in a comforting gesture as he watches the other agent. "I'll get her back for you. Our team will find her, but... you know it's never good to get this emotionally invested on a mission. Besides, you know that Matty won't let you take part in this mission in this current state."

Mac stares Jack down, an angry glint in his eyes as he shifts in the cushioned chair. Jack doesn't flinch as he stares right back up at Mac, concern clear in his eyes. After a moment, Mac gives a quick nod and then jumps up from the chair in annoyance. He crosses over to the door and swings it open with so much force that it hits the wall with a clang.

"Hey, bud, where are you going?" Jack stands up quickly, watching Mac with an air of caution. When Mac got like this, it was always a good idea to make sure he didn't do something really stupid and really self-destructive.

"Seeing as I'm not going on this mission, I'm not really needed here." Mac snaps as he exits the War Room with a slight growl, blue eyes narrowed in annoyance and self-loathing. He squeezes the metal B tightly in his right hand as he quickly leaves the War Room.

* * *

Mac sits in silence, legs stretched out on his old couch. His face is stained with tears, mostly out of frustration, that had stopped falling a while ago. He runs a hand over his face as he sits up, shifting uncomfortably on the couch. His blond hair sticks up in random spots and he attempts to flatten it down with his hand.

There had been no word from Jack, or anyone at the Phoenix Foundation, since he'd stormed out of the War Room earlier that afternoon. He was slightly worried that they would find her without him. This was his kid, he was done lying to himself, she was _his_ kid and he should be the one saving her. He has to save her, if only so that he can apologize for what he'd done to her.

Mac shakes his head and jumps up from the couch, itching for something to do. He finally comes to the conclusion that he just needs to go out and he quickly slips on his running shoes. He scribbles down the words _On a run_ onto a small piece of paper which he sets on the counter and then pushes the door open with a sigh. The door makes a loud clicking noise as he locks it behind him and then takes off at a brisk pace.

Mac runs for a while, following the small sidewalk that leads away from his house. He can see his breath puffing in the air as the chill of the November night starts to set in. It's only as he stops for a moment, resting his hands on his knees, that he senses something wrong. The streetlights that are usually on at this hour had yet to light up this section of the street and he can see something moving in the bushes along the edge of the sidewalk.

Before he can straighten himself up and continue his run, he feels a hand clamp around his mouth. He attempts to pull away as a deep voice speaks into his ear. "My boss will be glad that his plan worked out. You didn't really think there was any danger in those bushes, did you?"

Mac bucks in the man's grip as he continues his attempts to free himself. His eyes trail towards the bushes and he makes a slight growling noise as a girl is roughly pushed from the bushes. Both her arms and legs are bound and there is a bandanna stuffed in her mouth and secured with duct tape. There's a defiant glint in her brown eyes, but there's a definite air of fear as she's pushed forwards and onto her knees.

As the girl lifts her head, black hair falling away from her bruised face, her eyes widen in shock. She stares at Mac in complete confusion as another man, the one who had pushed her, roughly picks her up. He wraps his arms tightly around her midsection as she kicks her legs out, squirming in his arms as she attempts to kick him.

A black van pulls up and the door is slid open with a loud thump. Another man steps out and then helps the man who has Mac in his grasp. Duct tape had been hastily wrapped over the lower half of Mac's face and his eyes glow with pure hatred as he is shoved into the van. The man holding the raven-haired girl follows close behind, shoving the girl forwards so that she trips into the van with a grunt.

The man glares at the two prisoners as the door is slammed shut, leaving the two in complete darkness. The three kidnappers had apparently piled into the front of the van and, judging by the grumble of the engine, were now planning on taking their prisoners to another location. Mac crawls forwards in the dark, the kidnappers had decided to only zip tie his wrists in front of his body and had left his legs free. His fingers brush against the girl's leg as he scoots forwards and she makes a slight squeaking noise in the back of her throat.

He lifts his hands to his face and rips the duct tape off with a wince. He then speaks in a low voice as he moves next to the teenager. "Hey, are… are you alright? I mean, you're probably not. That was stupid, seeing as we're kidnapped."

She makes a sound that sounds like it could be her attempt at a laugh and she squints at Mac through the darkness. Her hands, unlike Mac's, are zip tied behind her back and her ankles are tied together with a length of rope. She moves forwards until her shoulder brushes Mac's chest and she makes a slight noise of recognition. Mac continues to speak quietly as she shifts into a more comfortable position, resting against the wall of the van.

"I can probably get us out of here." Mac awkwardly reaches his bound hands into his pant pocket. He grins as he pulls out his Swiss army knife and then slowly opens it up. He then proceeds to pull at the zip ties with the knife until he hears the slight snap of the plastic. "Now it's your turn."

He reaches over and begins to work at the zip ties around her wrists, tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth in concentration. The plastic bands that they tied her up with are considerably thicker than the ones they'd used on Mac and it takes him considerably longer to cut through them. As soon as Mac's done with the zip ties, he works at the rope that is holding her ankles together. He cuts through the rope much faster and he quickly moves to remove the gag, only to see that she's already done it.

She smirks at him as she tosses the bandanna and bunched-up duct tape to the side. One dark eyebrow is lifted in amusement and her eyes shine with silent humor. She brushes a strand of black hair from her face and then falls forwards, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as she begins to shake slightly, finally letting the shock of the whole situation take over.

Mac rests his chin on top of her head and begins to rub circles on her back in an attempt to comfort her. He stays like this for a moment before giving a soft laugh and speaking to her just above a whisper. "Remember that one time that I said you shouldn't jump out of a moving vehicle? Well, we're going to have to jump out of a moving vehicle."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Welcome to chapter six! I don't have all that much to say. Just enjoy the story and, um... Review if you want to. Yeah, on to the story.**

* * *

 **Chapter Six**

"This is a bad idea!" The sixteen-year-old says in a panicked voice as she watches Mac fiddle with the door lock. Her voice raises an octave as he slides open the door and then wraps his hand around her upper arm. "I don't know if you know this, but… But I'm kind of allergic to dying!"

"You'll be fine." Mac smiles reassuringly at her as he pulls her towards the opening in the side of the van. He then takes a breath and pushes her out of the van with a shout of "Sorry!" as he follows after her, jumping from the van.

She screams as she hits the grass and rolls onto her side with a wince. Mac lands a few feet away from her and he grunts slightly before slowly standing. He holds a hand to his side as he hobbles over to where she'd landed. He crouches down next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, are you alright?"

"Nope. I'm probably not alright." She winces as she sits up and hugs her left arm against her chest. She then continues in a slightly joking tone. "You just pushed me out of a moving vehicle, jerk."

Mac laughs, only to stop abruptly as sharp pain shoots through his side. He sinks onto his knees and attempts to suck in a breath in between pain from what's surely a fractured rib or two. He finally manages to breath without collapsing in pain and turns to see a panicked pair of brown eyes watching him. Mac flashes her a slightly pained smile as he attempts to stand again.

"Don't!" She holds out her right arm quickly, gesturing for him to stop. She then scrambles to stand as well, left arm still hugged tight against her body. "Don't hurt yourself, Mac."

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Mac shakes his head quickly and then lightly places a hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong with your arm?"

"Nothing important. Let's just get back to somewhere safe, so that I can go back to being really _really_ mad at you." She glares at him, but she doesn't attempt to make him remove his hand from her shoulder. "Do you have any idea where we are?"

"Let me look." He steps forward, ripping the sleeve off of his shirt as he does so. He then ties the fabric around her arm to act as a makeshift sling. Mac gives a small nod as he finishes tying off the fabric.

He looks around for a moment, glancing quickly in the side of the road. They had apparently been driving for longer than Mac first thought and they were now in what appears to be the middle of nowhere. "I have no idea where we are and I have no way to contact anyone."

* * *

 _Headquarters of the Mysterious F. A._

"What do you mean that they escaped?!" A tall man growls at the three men standing in front of him. He holds a long knife and taps it against his folded knuckles. A chair with old ropes and scattered bits of duct tape stands behind him. "You didn't think to search him before tying him up?"

A chorus of "No, sir. Sorry F. A." "We messed up, sir." and "Um…" is heard as the three men shuffle nervously in front of him. The largest man, the one who had jumped Mac, steps forwards after a moment and begins to speak in nervous stutters.

"We're very sorry, sir. We didn't realize that he had a knife on him." The man rubs the back of his neck as he nervously takes a few steps back. He coughs into the crook of his elbow and then watches his boss with caution.

"That's a shame. I suppose that I need to hire better help." F. A. takes the knife, point aimed at the man, and then gives a humorless laugh. He flicks his wrist sharply and tosses it at the man. He barely has time to register the knife flying through the air before it's struck him in the middle of the chest. The man makes a strangled wheezing noise as he collapses to his knees. "Who's next? What excuses would you like to give?"

The other two men shake their heads quickly and back away from him. F. A. shakes his head as he crouches in front of the man who lays on the floor. He grips the knife hilt and pulls it from the man's chest. He then waves it around, watching the other two out of the corner of his eye. He walks up to them, closing the distance between them until he's standing directly behind the two. F. A. whispers harshly to them and then throws the knife, causing it to strike the old chair and stick into the wooden back.

"Find my prisoners, or else."

* * *

Mac winces as he comes to a stop, resting one hand against a tree and keeping the other hand pressed against his side. His ribs are probably just fractured, and not broken, but that doesn't stop them from causing sharp daggers of pain to shoot through his side. He's fairly certain that he'd hit his head on something pretty hard when he jumped from the van and there's a very high chance that he has a concussion. He's breathing heavily and he fumbles for his words as he calls out to the sixteen-year-old.

"Babette. Do you think… Do you think we could rest for a minute?" Or ten. Mac adds in his head as he leans against the rough bark of the tree. He attempts to slow down his breathing, as each sharp breath brings another wave of hurt. "I think… I think I can feel my bones moving."

"Yeah, me too." Babette mutters under her breath as she turns back, walking up to where Mac is resting. She lowers herself down until she's sitting with her legs crossed and with her back pressed against the tree. She hums in thought as she looks at the treeline, her brown eyes scan the branches and she can feel Mac lower himself down next to her. "You're going to hurt yourself, Mac. You shouldn't be moving so much."

"I've been in worse situations." He shifts slightly, attempting to find a position that doesn't stab him in the ribs with pain. He winces as he moves and mutters under his breath before standing again. Mac holds out a hand and helps Babe stand slowly.

"What situations could you possibly have been in?" Babette shakes her head, a slightly disbelieving frown stretching across her face. "You can't get into too much trouble at a think tank. Phoenix Foundation or whatever."

Mac stops suddenly and looks back at Babette with a confused expression. "How do you know where I work? We haven't talked since…" He trails off with a frown and his blue eyes narrow slightly.

"A Senator decided to be my foster parent. Good publicity, or something like that." She shrugs and then stops as it shifts her left arm painfully. "He has a lot of files on his computer. Good connections. I looked you up. They won't grant me emancipation, so I just thought that maybe I could get some information instead."

"They won't grant you emancipation? Why won't they do that? You're sixteen now." Mac lifts an eyebrow in confusion before he turns and continues on through the trees.

"I don't know, something about-" A loud gunshot is heard nearby and Babette quickly stops talking. She steps closer to Mac who instinctively holds an arm out in front of her. "What's going on?"

"I think they found us. We should run." With that said, he grabs Babe's right arm and takes off at a brisk pace. Running with fractured ribs isn't exactly the best of ideas, but Mac doesn't want to stick around to see what they'll do with that gun.

Babette grips his hand tightly as they begin to run and she winces slightly as she jostles her left arm. She can hear someone chasing after them and she can feel her heartbeat pick up as Mac pulls her sideways. They duck through the trees and a slightly pained smile spreads across Mac's face as he comes across a small cabin. He rushes up the steps off the cabin, pulling Babette along with him.

"I think…" Mac coughs slightly and leans against the doorframe before quickly closing it behind him. He steps into the cabin and then crosses over to a frayed couch that sits in the middle of the room. "I think that we lost them."

Babette gives a small nod as she walks over to the couch as well. She takes a seat next to Mac and she looks up at him with something akin to panic shining in her eyes. Her hands begin to shake slightly as she rests against the back of the couch. She nervously bites the inside of her bottom lip as she shifts her gaze to the floor.

"I just need to take a breather and then… and then I can look for a way to get us out of here." Mac presses a hand against his side as he tilts his head back against the couch. He watches Babe out of the corner of his eye, watching as she lightly moves her fingers along her side in the exact spot that he'd touched his side. "You still feel things?"

"My synesthesia?" She glances at Mac for a moment, removing her fingers from her side. "Yeah, I still have it and I do still feel things."

Mac nods slowly as he stands from the couch, arm wrapping around his torso. He walks towards the front door, ensuring that the lock stays closed, and then pushes a small coffee table in front of the door. He then checks the few windows in the cabin, making sure that they stay closed.

"How do you expect us to get out of here? We don't have any way to contact anyone and there are people shooting at us!" Babette says with a slightly panicked tone of voice. She reaches her right arm out to grab hold of Mac's sleeve.

"A radio… If this cabin has a radio, then I could possibly send out a message." Mac runs a hand through his hair as he leans against the arm of the couch. He winces and quickly lowers his arm again. "It's got to be past midnight by now. I'm sure someone noticed that I'm missing."

Babette nods slowly as she continues to bite at the inside of her bottom lip. After a moment's silence, she stands from the couch and heads into what seems to be the kitchen. She looks around, opening cabinets first and then scanning the counter. Her gaze comes to rest on an old landline that is sitting on the counter. She smiles slightly as she pokes her head out of the door and gestures for Mac to join her.

"What? Did you find a radio?" Mac quirks an eyebrow in her direction as he stands and then walks towards the kitchen. He looks in the direction that her right hand is pointing and his face breaks into a wide grin. "Or a phone. That works too."

Mac picks the phone up and quickly dials the number that he had committed to memory. The phone rings several times and he starts to get slightly nervous. Maybe the kidnappers had gone after Jack when he and Babette had escaped. The phone continues to ring and Mac's foot taps against the ground in a sporadic rhythm.

"Come on Jack. Pick up the phone."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Greetings and salutations my dudes! Another chapter. Bam. Also...**

 **Thank you HannahMaree for the lovely review!**

* * *

 **Chapter Seven**

 _Somewhere in California at 1:00 AM_

Jack had been at the Phoenix Foundation until well past midnight and Riley was still over there. She was probably trying to track the people who had kidnapped the Senator's kid and being pushed around by Matty. jack had been hoping to stay at the Phoenix Foundation until they found a lead because Mac seemed really upset about all this and he wanted to help somehow. His plans had been ruined by Matty when she decided to kick him out. Apparently Jack had gotten "annoying" and "whiny" with all of his pacing and pushing Riley to find more information. Jack's new plan had been to sleep forever, but his train of thought is quickly interrupted by his cell phone ringing.

"Who would be callin' me at this hour?" Jack grumbles to himself under his breath as he searches for his phone. Luckily, it's one in the morning and there's nobody else as crazy as him, so the road is completely empty. He shakes his head as he quickly stops the car in the middle of the road. He finally manages to grab his phone and answers it with an annoyed mumble. "Who's this and what do you need at one in the morning?"

" _Jack? Thank goodness."_ Mac's voice crackles over the phone line. Relief clearly leaks into his voice as he continues. " _I… I need help Jack."_

"Mac? What's goin' on buddy? Are you hurt? What happened?" Jack explodes with questions as he presses his foot down hard against the breaks. He grips the phone tightly as Mac gives him a quick explanation of his current situation. After a moment's thought, he speaks again. "You don't know where you are?"

" _No, but we need to get out of here because these guys are going to search the cabin eventually."_ Mac's voice cuts out for a second before there's the sound of static and he's speaking again. " _...are hurt. Can you find my location by tracking the call?"_

"I just left Phoenix, but I'll go back there right away and see if Riles can find you." Jack starts up the car and checks the road for a second. He then makes a sharp u-turn and hits the gas, rushing down the road towards the Phoenix Foundation. "You heard any gunshots recently?"

Jack can hear Mac speaking quietly on the line, most likely questioning the girl that he'd escaped with. After a moment, Mac comes back on the phone. " _Gunshots stopped a little bit before we found the cabin. Haven't heard anything recently."_

"Okay. I'm at Phoenix right now." Jack turns his car off and quickly jumps out. He holds the phone against his ear and shoulder as he grabs his keys and rushes towards the building. "I'll try looking for Matty and Riley. See if they can help."

" _Okay… And, hurry if you can."_ Mac speaks just above a whisper, voice tight with pain. He then takes a deep breath before speaking again. " _Oh, forgot to mention, I found_ t _he Senator's daughter."_

Jack is about to respond, a slightly amused smile on his face, when he hears what sounds an awful lot like gunshots coming through the phone. He can hear Mac speaking in a hoarse whisper as the gunshots continue. He listens intently as a panicked voice speaks in the background. It seems like Mac is about to speak again when the line suddenly goes dead.

* * *

Jack pushes open the door to the War Room with a shout of "Mac's been kidnapped." He rushes over to where Riley is sitting, laptop resting on her knees. She quirks an eyebrow as she looks up from lines upon lines of code. She seems extremely confused as she pushes her laptop to the side and for a second she thinks that maybe this is a hallucination brought on by sleep deprivation.

"What do you mean Mac's been kidnapped?" She runs a hand over her face before reaching over and picking up her coffee cup. The hacker sips the coffee and then looks over at Jack. "Didn't he go home?"

"He got kidnapped while he was on a run. He managed to escape and he's hidin' out in a cabin." Jack tosses his phone onto the couch next to Riley and then sits across from her. "Doesn't know where he is, but you can track him on that."

Riley picks up the cell phone and lifts an eyebrow as if to question Jack's sanity. "Does he have his phone with him? I can't just track Mac magically. He doesn't have a GPS chip in his neck."

"No, he doesn't have his phone, but he did call me with another phone. We should hurry, because I sort of heard gunshots before the line went dead." Jack rubs the back of his neck and then mutter to himself. "I think we should just put a chip in his neck."

Riley plugs the phone into her laptop with a slight nod and then begins typing quickly as she searches for the location of the call. She hums in thought as she keeps searching for Mac's location. Matty enters the War Room a few minutes later and she looks around in confusion.

"Dalton! Didn't I send you home? Or did that _direct order_ not register." She crosses her arms as she stands in the door, blocking the only exit. "And you've got Riley distracted now too? She's supposed to be looking for kidnappers, not whatever it is you have her doing."

"Um... It's kind of a long story, but long story short, Mac got kidnapped by the kidnappers we're looking for. He managed to escape with the Senator's kid and he's stuck in a cabin with people shooting at him."

Matty lifts an eyebrow as she looks over at Jack. She shakes her head slightly before walking over to stand by Riley. She stays silent for a moment before nodding at the young hacker. "Okay. What do we have?"

"I've located the area that the call came from, but it's kind of broad." Riley pulls open a GPS view of a large forest about a half an hour or so from the Phoenix Foundation. She quickly types something else and a red circle appears around the North section of this large forest. A few dots then appear inside of the circle and Riley continues. "There aren't a lot of places that actually have access to a phone, so I can try to narrow it down to one of these spots."

"Dalton! Get out there and start searching the area." Matty snaps Jack's attention away from the screen and then points at the doorway. "I'll send another team with you and you' ll stay on comms so Riley can tell you where to go."

"Yes, ma'am." Jack gives her a fake salute and then heads out the door.

* * *

"Oh, forgot to mention, I found the Senator's daughter." Mac speaks quickly into the phone, relief clear on his face. He looks back at Babette who is looking out of the small front window. Suddenly, the forest explodes with gunfire and Babette rushes into the kitchen with a worried mumble.

"They found us. They probably found us." Babette speaks in a panicky voice as she grabs onto Mac's sleeve. She looks over her shoulder, as if she were afraid that someone was about to come through the doorway. "What do we do?"

"Just, don't panic. We don't even know if they know that we're here." Mac ducks behind the small kitchen door, pulling Babette with him. He keeps his hold on the phone as the gunshots continue. After a moment, he holds the phone to his ear and opens his mouth to speak. A single gunshot rings out before Mac speaks. "Jack, I think they've found us…. Jack?"

Mac throws the phone down with a frustrated groan. Babe looks at him with a confused expression, but she stays silent. She simply glances at the phone while keeping her hold of Mac's sleeve. The phone had slipped from the counter when Mac had thrown it and it now hangs off the edge of the counter with the cord pulled taught. The call must have dropped, either that, or they cut the phone lines.

"What are we going to do, Mac?" She speaks after a moment, her hand still squeezing the corner of Mac's sleeve tightly. She leans her head against Mac's shoulder with a panicked squeak. "How can they find us, if they don't know where we are?"

Mac hugs her tightly as the gunshots continue outside of the cabin. He rests his chin on top of her head for a quick moment before standing up straight and grabbing Babe's hand. He looks past the kitchen doorway, watching for any movement outside. When he sees none, he exits the kitchen and pulls Babette down the small hallway. He then pushes open the door to the bedroom and enters quickly.

"I don't know, but I trust Jack and I know that my team will find us." He locks the bedroom door and then crosses over to the bed. Babe sits on the corner with a slight huff as Mac continues to check out the room. "I guess that now we wait."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hello. I do hope that you enjoy this next installment of 'The Little Babe' and do leave a review if you would like... Anyways! On to the story!**

* * *

 **Chapter Eight**

The gunshots had stopped a little bit after Mac and Babette had taken refuge in the main bedroom of the small cabin. They had been sitting in relative silence for only five minutes, but Babette felt like this was an eternity. Her foot begins to tap impatiently against the ground as she nervously bites the inside of her bottom lip. Mac had finished his sweep of the room and had joined Babe on the corner of the bed, squeezing her hand tightly in his own.

He taps her on the shoulder to gain her attention and then speaks in a hushed tone. "I found a hatch inside the closet that seems to lead into a tunnel under the house. I think we should check it out, see where it leads. You're not still afraid of the dark, are you?"

"Not the dark, but… I'm kind of claustrophobic now. There was this incident at the home I went to after you left. I… I was locked in a shed…" Babette trails off with a small, one shouldered shrug. She sucks in a nervous breath as she begins to pulls at her sleeve before continuing. "I'll go with you though. It'll probably be fine."

Mac gives a slow nod as he stands from the corner of the bed, pulling Babe up with him with a light hold on her right arm. He walks towards the closet and then steps inside. The gunshots can be heard once again, as well as something that sounds like shattering glass, and Mac begins to move more quickly. He lifts the wooden panel from the floor of the closet and then nudges Babette slightly.

Babette bites the inside of her lip as she edges up to the side of the tunnel entrance. She hugs her left arm tightly against herself as she jumps down into the tunnel. Mac follows closely behind her, pulling the board back in place just as the sound of footsteps can be heard coming into the room.

* * *

 _F. A.'s Goons. Inside the Cabin._

"You said you saw movement inside here?" A very pale man with a mop of gray hair speaks in a gruff tone as he pushes the rest of the man into the cabin. "I don't see anything."

"I swear, Manfred. I saw something through the window." A very short man with a pudgy red face stands in front of Manfred, a large rifle slung over his thick shoulder. He points down the small hallway in the direction of the bedroom. "I saw them go that way."

Manfred glares at the short man as he steps in the direction of the bedroom, boots crunching loudly as he steps over the shards of glass from the windows. His hand rests on his gun as he nudges the door open with his foot. The rest of the men that F. A. had sent quickly rush into the room, guns lifted. Manfred pushes past all of them and his face morphs into one of anger.

"There's nothing here! I thought you said that you saw something." He grabs his gun and directs it at the pudgy man. "So, what do you have to say for yourself?"

The man shakes his head quickly and backs away until he bumps into the door to the closet. The small door swings open slightly, revealing a loose floorboards in the back of the closet. Manfred immediately pushes the other man out of the way and crouches down in front of the floorboard. He reaches out a hand and begins to lift the piece of wood.

A majority of the men file out of the room, leaving only Manfred, the pudgy man, and two others. The men crowd around Manfred as he pries the floorboard up. He gazes down into the small tunnel with a frown. He holds out a hand, demanding that a flashlight be handed to him. As soon as he has a flashlight in hand, he shines it down into the hole.

"Looks like I found where the escapees went." Manfred directs the three other men in the room to enter the tunnel. They glance at each other nervously before nodding and dropping into the tunnel.

* * *

Babette lands at the bottom of the tunnel with a sharp cry of pain. She sucks in a breath between her gritted teeth as she shuffles forward in the dark. Mac scoots forward, careful not to jostle his ribs too much as he follows Babe. The tunnel is only tall enough for Mac to sit up and, even then, his head brushes against the top of the tunnel. The width of the tunnel is much larger, allowing Mac and Babette to move side-by-side.

"Are you alright? Did you hurt your arm?" Mac whispers quickly as he scoots up next to her, placing a hand on her right shoulder.

"I'm fine. Let's just go." She speaks in a low tone and her breath comes in short, panicked gasps. The fingers of her right hand are clasped tightly around the corner of her sleeve as she rocks back and forth.

"Calm down. You're going to be fine." Mac pulls her towards him and has her rest her head against his shoulder. He kisses the top of her head and then continues forwards, this time crawling right next to Babette.

Babe shuffles forward, left arm tucked into her side. She wobbles slightly as she loses her balance, but she quickly regains it and keeps moving. She moves quite slowly, due to the fact that she only has one arm, but she still manages to keep up with Mac's equally slow pace.

They are just coming up to where a patch of sunlight can be seen when they hear muffled shouting coming from the direction they came. Mac begins to move more quickly as the sound reaches his ears and he rushes forwards. He reaches the patch of sunlight and looks up.

"Okay, I think we're going to have to climb." Mac stands up in the large hole that opens up the roof of the tunnel. He looks around for a moment, looking up at the walls of dirt. "It's just a couple feet."

Babette doesn't say anything as she stands up next to Mac. She gives a quick nod, adjusting the fabric holding her arm against her side. She sways slightly as she stands and she leans against Mac's side, sucking in shallow breaths.

"We're almost out. I promise." Mac frowns and tucks her head against his chest, carding a hand softly through her dark hair. He waits for her breathing to slow before he steps away from her and looks back up.

He examines the roots that are sticking out of the dirt above them and then looks down. He gives a small nod as he takes into account the small stones that are littered around the opening in the roof, seemingly from a tunnel collapse a few feet forwards. Mac begins to push the stones into the opening that they came from, going more quickly as he hears the sound of people jumping into the tunnel from the cabin.

"I need to block the opening. It will give us enough time to climb out of here and find Jack."

* * *

F. _A.'s Goons. Inside the Tunnel._

"Come on, this is the only way that they could have gone." A gruff voice growls slightly as the voice's owner looks up at the pudgy man standing over the tunnel entrance. "Just come down here so that he doesn't kill us all."

The pudgy man huffs in annoyance as he jumps down into the tunnel. He makes a loud noise as he hits the ground and struggles to sit back up. He rolls onto his side and then attempts to push himself up with a grunt.

"Just leave him. Come on!" The third man shouts in their direction before crawling further into the tunnel. He has a pistol strapped to his side, as does the second man in the tunnel, and his face holds an expression of annoyance.

"Oh!" The pudgy man lets out a shout as he finally pushes himself up and begins to crawl after the other two men. He is huffing, his face red from exertion, after only a few feet and he stops for a moment.

The other two men shake their heads and continue forward without a glance in the man's direction. They both continue crawling until they hear the sound of rocks being pushed around. The first man signals for the other to stop as he reaches for his pistol. He aims at the ground and then fires a round into the soil.

The sound of a frightened scream can be heard further down the tunnel and the two men quickly crawl in that direction. They stop as the come across a large group of rocks that is blocking their path. The first man pushes at the wall of rock, but it doesn't budge and he gives a frustrated growl.

The second man looks through the small gaps that are littered throughout the pile and jumps back as another set of eyes locks with his. He fumbles for his weapon and then sticks the barrel of the gun into the gap. He pulls the trigger and gives a small smile as he hears a yelp of pain.

Mac gasps as the bullet tears through his shoulder. His attempts to back away from the rock wall had been useless, as he soon found that there was nowhere else to go. The last half of the tunnel had been sealed off by a collapsed wall and had given Mac no other option but to push Babette behind him.

He clasps a hand around the wound and watches as blood begins to leak from beneath his fingers. He can hear Babette whimpering in pain and, for a split second, he worries that she's been hit too. This fear is stilled as he turns and observes that, even though she has her hand clamped around her arm and is whimpering slightly, she doesn't appear to be hurt. He begins to pant slightly as he can hear the sound of shuffling on the other side of the rocks and he lowers himself onto the ground. Babette ducks down with him as they stay under the view of their pursuers and she attempts to stop her whimpers.

"Babe, are you alright?" Mac rests a hand on her ankle as he scoots closer to her, whispering his questions. "Do you think you can climb?"

"Won't they just start shooting again?" Babette squeezes her eyes shut, attempting to stop the tears that threaten to flow from her eyes. "I just want to go home, Mac. With you, not the creepy Senator."

"I know kiddo, I know. And you can do that, but we have to climb first." Mac presses a kiss to the top of her head before he begins to scoot towards the far edge of the opening. Then, as if just remembering that he was shot, he rips off the bottom of his shirt and tightly wraps it around his arm.

Mac slowly stands up, keeping his back pressed against the wall of the tunnel. Babette then stands up as well, standing right next to him. She had managed to slow her breathing, but she still holds an expression of panic and her eyes dart around the tunnel sporadically. The sound of mumbling can be heard on the other side of the rock pile and then the barrel of a gun is pushed into the gap near the middle of the rocks.

Babette squeaks and presses her face against Mac's shoulder. He presses up against the wall and watches the gun as it's pushed further through the gap. The man behind the wall fires another shot, causing Babette to let out another panicked squeak. Several more shots slam into the collapsed wall of the cave and Mac quickly looks for a way to begin climbing. He spots a small ledge further up the wall and he stretches his arm up, wincing as he pulls at his injured ribs.

His fingers touch just below the ledge and he grunts in pain as he jumps up to grip the ledge. He then brings his other arm up and grabs the ledge with both hands. Babette watches with a slightly concerned expression as Mac hangs from the ledge, feet swinging a few inches from the ground.

"I'll have to pull you up once I-"

Babette cuts him off by tapping him on the leg and then shaking her head slightly. She begins pushing some of the loose rocks against the wall. She attempts to pile them up as high as she can and then steps onto the pile. The rocks shift as she grips a small crack in the wall and then balances on one leg, having pulled the other one onto the wall to search for a foothold. She finds one and brings her other leg onto the wall, attempting to hold herself to the wall with one arm. She pulls herself up a bit more, shifting her weight onto her one arm as she continues to climb a bit.

Mac looks down at her as she climbs, a wide grin on his face as he suppresses a laugh. As Babe is getting closer to where he's hanging from, he reaches one hand down and grabs her wrist. He then pulls her up slowly as she pushes off of the wall with her feet. She finally reaches the ledge where Mac is and grabs it with her right arm. Mac wraps one arm around her, to assure himself that she's not going to fall, and then looks up. He smiles as he sees that the top of the opening is just an arm's length above them, a slightly crazed laugh escaping him.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I know. I suck. I'm like, a week or so late on updating this. Hehe. Finals will do that to you. Anyways...**

 **HannahMaree: Thank you! Glad you are enjoying my little writing snippet.**

 **JustADreamer24: I'm really really glad that you're liking the story! I hope you enjoy this next chapter and, of course, the conversation will most definitely be emotional.**

* * *

 **Chapter Nine**

"Do we have any way of narrowin' down Mac's location?" Jack speaks into comm set as he sits in the front seat. He can see the driver shooting him an annoyed expression, but he pays him no attention as he taps his comm. "This is a real large area to search."

 _"_ _I'm working on it, Jack."_ Riley's voice crackles over the comms, her tone clearly reflecting her frustration. _"_ _I can't just… Wait, I'm getting a lot of weird stuff from a section of the forest."_

"What kind of weird stuff?" Jack signals for the driver to slow down as he questions Riley in a slightly worried tone.

" _There's a lot of random signals from what seems like simple walkie-talkies."_ The sound of Riley tapping away at a keyboard can be heard through the comm. " _Alright, go left and you should find a cabin a few yards that way."_

Jack nods at the driver, indicating that he should follow the hacker's directions. The engine roars as the driver slams his foot against the gass, swerving to the left. Jack grabs his gun as he sees the cabin appearing over a small hill. The driver brings the car to a stop and Jack hops out, followed by the rest of the tactical team that had been sent with him. He sweeps the area, gun held in front of him and his eyes trained on the ground.

"I've got the cabin. You guys check the rest of the area." Jack is about to head towards the cabin when a small group of men comes thundering out of the small house. A pale man with gray hair, going by the name of Manfred, is at the front of the group. He stops short at the sight of the tactical team and, realizing that they're outnumbered, pushes his way through the group of men.

The tactical team immediately jumps into action rounding up the ragtag group. None of them attempt to fight the team of people that are clearly much larger than their own. Jack doesn't stop to see what happens as he quickly enters the cabin and begins searching for Mac. He frowns as he examines the tunnel that opens up in the floor of the cabin. He swears he can hear people shuffling around down there, but he has no way of knowing who it is.

The sound of gunshots coming from the tunnel has Jack letting out a string of curses. He sucks in a breath and then crawls over to the edge of the tunnel. He shakes his head before quickly hopping down into the tunnel. Holding his gun in front of him, he begins to crawls forwards through the tunnel. He lets out a surprised shout as he runs into something large and squishy, and he shouts more as the thing makes its own panicked noise.

"Who's there? And how dare you block my favorite tunnel." A lot of shuffling noises are heard from the end of the tunnel and Jack begins to backup, a slightly worried expression on his face. "I have a loaded weapon."

Then, just realizing that he has a light on his helmet, Jack flips it on. The light catches the three men in front of him by surprise and he quickly rips their guns from their grasp. He hears their shouts of indignation and a small smile appears on his face. The pudgy man runs a hand over his face before speaking softly.

"You can't get to him from here. There's a large wall of rock."

The two other men shake their heads, as if this was simply expected behavior of the pudgy man. They then look over at Jack with equally resigned expressions. Jack lifts an eyebrow as he keeps his gun trained at the three men, having pushed their guns behind him.

"You're here for the blonde kid, right? The one F.A. is desperately trying to kidnap?" One of the two men speaks. "We'll go peacefully if you just let us get out of this awful tunnel."

"Yeah, alright. I have men upstairs." Jack scoots to the edge of the tunnel to let the three men pass by him. "They'll take you in."

They all go past him and Jack sends word to the team above ground by speaking quickly into his comm. He then continues forwards until he reaches the wall of rocks. He looks through the holes in the wall, shining the light through the gaps. He looks for Mac with a slightly panicked expression before he calls out.

"Hey! Mac, buddy. You over there?" Jack attempts to get a better view from his spot of the tunnel. "I came to save you. Um… It's not going so well."

He gets no response except for the sound of shifting rocks and slight squeaks. He grunts as he begins to push the rock wall forwards. The rocks begin to shift and Jack shakes his head slightly in worry. If the wall is coming down this easily, then Mac clearly wasn't at his best when he piled them up.

The rock wall slowly tumbles down and Jack is able to crawl past it and into the rest of the tunnel. He looks up as he sees the light streaming down and what he sees above him almost makes him laugh aloud. At the top of the opening he can see Mac standing at the edge, a fairly panicked look on his face as he looks down the opening. His fear of heights is probably showing him horrifying flashes and he scoots away from the edge as he looks down at Jack. Next to the blond boy, Jack can see someone with a rather messy head of black hair and he's sure this is the Senator's kid.

"I'll come up to get ya! You just wait right there, buddy." Jack calls up to him with a laugh as he begins to climb up the wall. He climbs much faster than Mac and Babe had, simply because he hadn't jumped out of a car and then been chased through the woods by people with guns. The texan quickly reaches the top of the opening and then pulls himself up. He dusts off his shirt and then flashes Mac a wide grin, attempting to hide his complete and utter relief at finding the boy.

"You could have just gone back through the tunnel." Mac mumbles as he shoots Jack a slightly exasperated glare. He goes to speak again but stops as he moves his arm and pain shoots through it. He lets out a pained gasp, falling forwards and resting his hand on his knee.

Babette makes a squeaking noise and Jack glances in her direction. He decides to deal with that later as he crouches down in front of Mac. He places a hand on his shoulder and then moves his hand under his chin, tilting Mac to look at him.

"I'm fine. Let's just get back home and-"

"Nope. You are not fine." Jack scans him for injury, taking in how he keeps one arm against his side which probably meant hurt ribs. His gaze then stops on the bloodsoaked cloth wrapped around Mac's bicep. "Did you manage to get yourself shot?"

"Of course he did, because he's stupid." Babette mumbles under her breath, trying to get angry with him like she promised herself she would if they ever met again, but failing miserably.

Mac gives a quick nod, swaying slightly now that the events of the day had fully caught up with him. He no longer needed to keep up his strong facade, because Jack had found him, just like he was sure he would. He is aware of Jack lowering him down to lean back against a tree and then he feels something at his side. He tilts his head and smiles as Babette sits next to him, head on his shoulder.

"Hey, I need a medic over here!" Jack calls out as he sees some of the tactical team moving towards him. The man in the lead gives a nod and speaks quickly to someone over his radio. "You owe me a big explanation after this, brother."

"Yeah… I know I do." Mac says between pained breaths. He then tilts his head back, staring up at the tree. "Oh, Babe, almost forgot…"

He trails off as he reaches a hand into the pocket of his shirt, pulling out a paperclip B. The corners of Babe's mouth twitch into a small smile as she takes the paperclip from him. She shakes her head, an amused expression overtaking her face as she pockets the small piece of metal.

A gruff voice speaks from somewhere outside of Mac's peripheral vision but he can't quite decipher what's said. Mac can hear Jack speaking to another person before he drops into his line of sight. The man, who Mac assumes is medic, begins checking him over and making a few comments to Jack, who had also crouched down in front of Mac.

"Doc says you have some fractured ribs and a bullet wound on your arm." Jack lightly pats Mac on the shoulder as the medic straightens out. "He's says he has to take the bullet out."

"I could have told you that." Mac attempts to laugh but quickly stops, his hand pressed against his side as he lets out a gasp of pain. Babette lets out her own pained noise, having been looking in Mac's direction when he did so. The medic, having finished examining her left arm and having placed it in a more suitable sling, glances in her direction. He lifts an eyebrow in question and it looks like he's about to crouch down again but Babette quickly stops him by shaking her head.

The medic looks slightly uncertain but he nods and walks back to the car that they'd pulled up once Mac had been found. Jack waits for the medic to walk out of the area before speaking to Mac softly. "You think I can help you to the car?"

"I'm sure you can." Mac says with a slightly joking tone before he begins to shift, attempting to stand. Jack sighs and stands, offering Mac a hand to help him up. As he's helping Mac up, Babette jumps up from her spot against the tree, ensuring that her arm doesn't move as she does so.

Jack keeps a hand on Mac's shoulder as he helps him to the car. He holds the door open for him and then steps back, letting Babette climb into the car after Mac. Jack then climbs in the front seat and slaps the driver's seat with a shout of 'Let's go!' He grins as the car starts up and they begins down the road.

* * *

The next thing that Mac remembers is him waking up in a plain hospital room. He blinks his eyes slowly and for a second he is sure he can hear someone shouting down the hall. He looks up, glancing at Jack who had fallen asleep in the chair next to his bed. He sighs as he shifts in his bed, attempting to sit up.

He presses a hand against his side only to realize that his shirt had been removed and his chest wrapped in bandages. He then shifts his gaze to his arm which had also been wrapped his bandages, seemingly having had the bullet removed. Mac lets out a loud yawn as he swings his legs over the edge of the bed. Jack's eyes immediately snap open and his gaze turns in Mac's direction.

"What do you think you're doin'? You are not cleared to leave."

"I need to go find Babette." Mac continues to climb out of the bed, his senses dulled by the pain medication. "She's probably scared."

"Fine. If you let me wheel you over to her room, then you can go see her."

Mac stares at Jack for a moment, a slightly exasperated expression on his face. After a moment, he gives a quick nod and allows Jack to help him into a wheelchair. The two then go down the hallway until they stop in front of a small room. Babette is resting on the bed, her arm in a cast and resting on her stomach.

She hears the sound of someone entering the room and her face breaks into a wide grin. "Mac! You're okay!"

"Of course I am." Mac grins at her as Jack wheels him up the side of her bed. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"They said I couldn't see you. They wouldn't tell me why." Her breath starts to come in short gasps and her right hand squeezes the sheets tightly in her fist. "They were going to call the Senator. I told them… I made them stop."

"You're alright. I'm alright." Mac places a hand on her shoulder and squeezes it tightly. "I'll figure out the whole Senator thing. I promise."

Jack steps away, giving them some space as he watches Mac calm the girl down. He watches with curiosity and, after a moment, he sees Babette turn her gaze towards him. Mac follows her gaze and then glances at Jack.

"Right. Explanation." Mac rubs the back of his neck before continuing. "Um… this is Babette. We met in mission city and she came to live with my grandfather and I after… after something happened at her orphanage."

"Oh… that makes sense." Jack gives a small nod before speaking again. "I'm guessin' that she became the Senator's kid because of your joining the army."

Mac gives a stilted nod, seeing Babette's slightly angry expression out of the corner of his eye. He shakes his head slightly before glancing back at Jack, his hand still on Babette's shoulder. The girl leans back in her bed, grabbing Mac's hand and squeezing it.

"I need a lawyer, Jack. I need to get a lawyer in here." Mac looks him in the eye, a pleading look in his eye.

"Alright buddy. I'll see what I can-"

"Excuse me. What are you doing in the girl's hospital for?" A tall man in a tailored suit steps into the room, followed by several security guards. "Now, I need to take her back to my home."

"Ah, you're that Senator ain't you." Jack steps in front of him, keeping the man from walking up to Babe's bed. "This girl here isn't going anywhere."

"Pardon me?" The man crosses his arms and glares angrily at Jack.

"She's injured and she still needs to be questioned."

The Senator opens his mouth, as if to argue again, but quickly shuts it again. He glances over his shoulder at one of the security guards and then nods. The guard hands over a thin, manilla folder and then backs away to the door. He slaps the folder down on the table next to Babe's bed.

"I was going to hold off on this, but I guess now's as good a time as any." He opens the folder, showing some legal documents that outline the movement of foster children. "It's signed and if the child will sign too, then I can be rid of her much faster."

Jack's mouth hangs open slightly and he doesn't have a chance to speak before the Senator is out the door. He glances over at the bed and sees Babette hastily signing her name at the bottom of the form. She then pushes the folder towards Mac with a grin.

"File this. We need to file this."

"I can do that. I'll leave you two to talk." Jack nods and scoops up the folder. He then heads towards the door and turns in the direction of the Phoenix's legal office.

The two of them sit in silence for several minutes before Babette turns towards Mac with a small frown. Tears had begun to pool, just barely spilling out and trailing down her cheeks. Her words come out in a harsh whisper and her brown eyes bore into Mac's "baby blues" as Jack so teasingly called them.

"Why didn't you come back? You promised that you'd always come back."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Welcome to a small little filler chapter! It's not very interesting, but it is what it is. Oh well. Anyways...**

 **JustADreamer24: I'm really glad that you're liking this story! And, yeah, I will definitely be writing more stories with Babe and the team! Whenever those ideas come to me, that is. I'd even be up to writing requests once I've finished this story.**

 **On to the story!**

* * *

 **Chapter Ten**

Jack walks down the hallway, manila folder in hand. As soon as he'd been given the opportunity to leave that hospital room, he'd taken it. The Texan couldn't quite understand why, but there was something about that girl that unnerved him. Maybe it was her strange ability to feel the pain of others, or maybe he was just jealous of the girl's ability to gain the blond's attention.

Mac was his boy, after all. Maybe he should be allowed to feel jealous every once and a while. The kid hadn't had anyone else when he joined the army, at least, that's what Jack assumed, and he'd taken care of the kid. Brought him under his wing, so to speak. Maybe he didn't like the idea of his boy having a little girl to look after. Maybe he didn't think that Mac was ready for that.

That seems fair, doesn't it? He should at least be free to think these things. He'd never state them to Mac, of course. It was clear that Mac loved that girl to death, and if Mac learned that Jack didn't necessarily like the kid, he was sure that the kid would be crushed. Jack also didn't feel like being attacked by a blond with a paperclip. That would really ruin his reputation, wouldn't it?

Yes, he would keep it to himself. And, who knows, maybe he would grow to like the girl.

* * *

 _War Room_

Riley looks up as a quiet knock sounds at the door. She watches as the door is pushed open and in stumbles Bozer. The corners of her mouth twitch into a smile, but that is the only indication that she was amused by his entrance. Her good mood is quickly broken as she sees his expression.

"Everything alright?"

"No! Everything's not alright!" Bozer says with a slightly panicked hint to his voice. "I just heard that Mac was kidnapped. Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Oh, that?" Riley rubs the back of her neck and flashes him a slightly apologetic smile. "Well, Mac isn't actually kidnapped anymore. We found him and he's fine, more or less. As for not telling you, Matty kind of said it was need to know, and that you didn't."

"But… he's my best friend! How was I on the 'don't need to know' list?" Bozer grumbles as he flops down on the couch next to her. "So, he's back now? Can I go see him?"

"I think he's still getting looked over by the doctors, but I'm sure that they'll tell us when we can go visit."

"Alright… I'll take your word for it." He says with a slight glare before his face shifts, corners of his mouth pulling into a smile. "What's Matty got you doing?"

"I'm looking for someone." She says vaguely as she taps away at the keyboard, numbers and letters flying by faster than Bozer can read.

"Oh, let me guess, I don't need to know that either." He grumbles, arms crossed against his chest.

"Glad you're catching on." Matty's voice says from the doorway as she steps into the room, shooting Bozer a glare. "Now stop distracting my hacker and get out of here."

"Fine! But I will be back and I'll… I'll…" He trails off and throws his arms up in annoyance. He calls over his shoulder as he leaves the War Room with a huff. "Nevermind!"

Bozer makes sure that he's out of sight from the doorway of War Room before he turns in the opposite direction of the downstairs lab. He hops onto another elevator and then presses the button that has a small plaque next to it with the words 'E.R. and Recovery' inscribed on it. He puts his hands in the pockets of his jacket and leans against the back wall of the elevator. They couldn't stop him from going to the small hospital that the Phoenix boasted, that was a public area.

He jumps slightly as the elevator dings and he quickly shuffles off of it. He smiles widely at the nurse who sits behind the desk, Nurse Stevie he thinks her name is. She flashes him a friendly smile as he steps up to the desk and rests his elbows on the counter.

"Hey… I know why you're here, but I can't in good conscience let you in to see him." She says softly as she stands from the desk, clipboard in hand. "What the boss says goes. You know that."

"However, I can't stop you from finding out that he's currently visiting someone in room 102. I also would not be able to stop you if you were to suddenly run down the hallway and enter said room." Nurse Stevie suddenly says, never looking up from the clipboard in her hand. She then winks at him and hurries down the hall in another direction as a pager at her waist beeps loudly.

Bozer grins and goes down the hall in the direction of room 102. He checks the numbers next to the doors only to stop as he runs into something. He jumps backwards and then lets out a laugh as he sees what he ran into.

"Jack? What are you doing here?" The lab tech asks with a slightly confused expression on his face. "Did you sneak in to visit Mac too?"

Jack doesn't say anything for a moment, his eyes on the manila folder in his hands. He had been hoping that Bozer wouldn't come into the little infirmary to visit Mac, because then he would have to explain why Matty was allowing him to visit while barring the lab tech from visits. Maybe he could get out of the explanation by knocking the lab tech out…

"Well? Are you going to speak?" Bozer waves his hand in front Jack's face. "Earth to Jack."

"Oh, right. Um… No, I was actually just getting some information that I need to…" He trails off, fiddling with the corner of the folder as he attempts to come up with an excuse. "I need to get it to the legal office."

"Why don't you come with me?" He asks suddenly, slapping him in the center of his chest with the folder. "You can't visit Mac anyways. Matty vetoed visitation rights, remember?"

After a moment, Bozer gives a small nod and then gestures for Jack to continue on. Jack lets out a breath of relief and hurries down the hallway, ensuring that Bozer is following him as he hops on the elevator. The Texan leans against the wall of the elevator, arms crossed and the folder held loosely in one hand.

"What's this information for anyways? Anything to do with the case that I'm not supposed to know about?" Bozer reaches out, attempting to snatch the folder from him.

Jack lifts the folder out of his grasp with a roll of his eyes before speaking. "No, it technically doesn't have anything to do with the case."

"Then I can see it! Right?"

"It's nothing interesting. Just some papers to remove a foster kid from someone's custody." Jack says quickly, tucking the file under one arm. "Doesn't really matter."

"If it doesn't matter, then can I see it?" He lifts one eyebrow, as if he had suddenly understood his words. "Wait, foster kid? Why does the Phoenix need information about a foster kid?"

Jack glares at him, pushing past him as the elevator stops on the correct floor. He walks towards the small legal office and pushes open the door. Bozer quickly follows after him, flopping down in one of the chairs of the office.

"You gonna answer my question?" He whispers to Jack as a man in a suit takes a seat at the desk in front of them.

Jack's silence is all the response that Bozer needs and he huff in annoyance, his arms crossed against his chest. He watches as Jack wordlessly slides the folder across the desk and towards the man in the suit. The man grabs it and fingers through the papers for a moment, nodding and murmuring to himself as he reads it over quickly.

"Babette Morris?" The man reads the name aloud, glancing at Jack for confirmation. "Foster child… Wait, the Senator? As in the one from the-"

Jack cuts him off with a stern glare and a quick nod. He expects Bozer to question him about this as he turns to look at him, but what he doesn't expect is the lab tech's startled look and slight tone of recognition. It's only once Bozer speaks that Jack realizes his mistake. They grew up together, of course Bozer would have known. Matty was going to have a field day with this one.

"You're referring to Babe, right? From Mission City?" Bozer's voice drops in volume slightly as he speaks the next sentence. "Mac's kid?"


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hey guys! I suck at posting updates to my stories, apparently. School has been real crazy, which is a lame excuse, but it's all that I've got and whatnot. Anyways...**

 **JustADreamer24: I hope that this chapter will answer some of your questions. Thanks for leaving another fabulous review!**

* * *

 **Chapter Eleven**

 _Hospital Room_

"Why didn't you come back? You promised that you'd always come back."

Mac stares over at Babette for a moment, a slightly pained frown appearing on his face that Babette is sure comes from more than the cracked ribs and stitches in his arm. He doesn't say anything as he slowly stands from the wheelchair, slowly hobbling over to the bed where Babette is sitting.

She sniffles slightly, scooting away from him as he sits down next to her. He places a hand on her shoulder and squeezes it slightly. "I'm really sorry… And, I wish I could explain what's going on but… I can't."

"Why can't you tell me?" She grumbles, her face pulled down in a frown. "Please… I just want to know why you never spoke to me again."

Mac sighs, rubbing his good hand over his face and shutting his eyes slowly. He stays silent for a moment, keeping his eyes closed and shaking his head slightly.

"Fine… Just don't tell anyone that I told you." Mac mumbles slightly before he starts speaking. "I was going to come back after the army, but I joined the Phoenix and I had to lay low for a while."

He takes a breath, looking over at Babette who had scooted slightly closer, before continuing his rather lengthy explanation.

"Um… And after that, I wanted to pick you up from the orphanage you were staying at, but then… something came up."

"What came up?" Babette asks quietly, the sixteen-year-old having now leaned her head against Mac's shoulder seemingly without her realizing.

"You parents… They weren't trying to find you or anything, but they started hacking into our systems and trying to gain information about our past ops." He rubs the back of his neck, his eyes drifting to the ground. "I couldn't… They would have found you, and I couldn't let that happen."

"My parents?" Babette frowns as Mac wraps his uninjured arm around her shoulders, but she does nothing to stop him.

"They were international thieves. They weren't on our radar until they started trying to get our information." Mac squeezes her shoulder lightly, carefully to avoid her arm which had just recently been put in a splint. "I really wanted to contact you, but my boss wouldn't let me. She said they would find you… They're _still_ trying to find you."

Mac stops, his voice breaking slightly as he presses a kiss to the top of her head. He seems shocked as Babette snuggles up against him and presses her face against his chest. He stays silent for a moment before speaking in a slightly quiet tone.

"That's why nobody can know that you're here. Matty doesn't want to risk you getting caught." He mumbles softly, stroking her hair with his free hand. "Are you… I'm just really sorry."

"I forgive you." She says quietly, keeping her face pressed against his chest as her muffled voice drifts up to him. "I was never mad, I don't think."

* * *

 _Legal Office_

Jack blinks slowly, staring at Bozer for a moment in shock. He eventually gives a slightly nervous laugh and claps him on the shoulder.

"Must be a different person. I don't think anyone's from Mission City 'cept you and Mac."

Bozer shakes his head quickly, arms crossing against his chest as he stares at Jack in disbelief. "I don't believe you. It _has_ to be that Babette."

The legal worker's eyes widen and he scoots away from the desk, taking the file with him. He looks at Jack and nods slightly, as if to say that he has nothing to do with whatever is about to happen. The man goes into a back room and quickly shuts the door, leaving Jack and Boxer sitting in awkward silence.

"Well, look at that Dalton. You've already spilled information on the Morris case. Well done. Want to tell Bozer about any other high priority operations while you're at it?" Matty's voice suddenly sounds from the door and Jack quickly turns around, flashing her a sheepish smile.

"Hey boss… It really wasn't my fault though." Jack says as he awkwardly rubs the back of his neck. "I didn't actually tell him anything."

"Mhm… I'm sure." Matty sounds quite unconvinced as she steps further into the room, arms crossed against her chest. "Now, if you're done sharing information with Bozer, I need you to come do your job. Sound good?"

Jack nods at her, standing from the chair and quickly walking out the door after Matty. He shakes his head, mumbling slightly under his breath as he walks towards the War Room. He holds the door for Matty and then steps inside after her. Matty walks to the front of the War Room and then looks out at the room where Riley, Jack, and a few random agents are scattered around.

"We found the connection between the Morris case, F.A., and the girl." Matty says as the hum of talking begins to die down. "Riley?"

The hacker nods and quickly types something into her keyboard, moving one hand in a swiping motion. Several files and maps appear on the screen and Jack's eyes widen as a very familiar looking map appears off to the side. He had studied that map once before. When he and Mac had been in the Army together.

* * *

 _Hospital Room_

"How about I get you out of this stuffy hospital room?" Mac says as he lifts his head from on top of Babette's. "I'll take you on a quick tour of my place of employment."

Babette nods slowly, lifting her head from Mac's shoulder. She fiddles with the strap of the splint on her arm as she swings her legs over the edge of the bed. Mac stands up slowly, carefully shifting his bandaged arm to rest against his chest. He holds out his good arm and helps Babette up from the bed. He then walks towards the door, helping Babette out of the room and then down the hall.

Babette and Mac walk down the hall side by side, the teen leaning against Mac's side and mumbling something to herself under her breath. He laughs slightly as he hears what she's mumbling about and he squeezes her shoulder.

"You're a dork. You know that?" He says to her as they walk, turning the corner and then stopping in front of the elevator. "Why are you mumbling about plans for a taco bomb?"

"Cause I'm bored?" She responds in an uncertain tone, a slightly embarrassed smile on her face. "But you'll let me make it, right? I really wanna try to make it."

"Yeah. Once we get this all figured out, we can make taco bombs." Mac says with a laugh, moving as the elevator door opens. "Whatever that means."

"So… You get all the ingredients of a taco, right?" Babette's face breaks into a grin as she starts to explain her idea, her hands waving around slightly as she speaks. She keeps talking, even as they get off the elevator and Mac begins to walk her towards the War Room.

Mac laughs as Babette pulls at his sleeve slightly, an excited glint in her eye as her explanation gets even more insane. He kisses the top of her head, putting his good arm around her shoulders as he stops at the door to the War Room. He's about to step inside when Jack suddenly rushes out, stopping quickly and just narrowly missing running into the pair of them.

"Jack? What's going on?"

"Oh, thank goodness." Jack breaths out, placing a hand on Mac's shoulder and squeezing lightly. "You almost gave me a heart attack there bud. Here we thought you'd been kidnapped or somethin', but turns out you're just being a bad patient. Again."

"Why would I be kidnapped?" Mac says in confusion. "You stopped the guys that were kidnapping Babe."

"Turns out that their boss, the F.A. guy, is still out and about." Jack says with a slight nod before his

gaze shifts towards Babette. He looks her over for a short moment and then looks at Mac again. "We managed to intercept one of his messages… He's working with them."

"With them? You mean _them_ them." Mac asks with a slightly panicked edge to his voice, his hold on Babette tightening slightly.

"Oh yeah." Jack nods quickly, waving one hand for Mac to follow him into the room. "And you'll never guess who F.A. is."

Mac lifts one blond eyebrow, walking in after Jack. He keeps an arm around Babette's shoulders who, while being rather talkative around him, was in fact quite terrible around other people. A fact that was only strengthened by her Synesthesia. She has become quite good at hiding it since when she was five, but Mac could always tell when she was feeling something. Always.

"So…" Matty stands at the front of the War Room, looking at the small group of agents that she'd gathered. Hers eyes flicker towards Mac and Babe as they enter with Jack, but there's no falter in her speech. "You are all the people that I have brought in on the Morris Case, and you are the only people that are ever going to know about the case. Got it?"

She looks around the room, staring pointedly at Jack before she looks at the group at large. The group gives a rather convoluted response that sounds like several mumbles of 'Yes.' 'Of course.' and, from Jack, 'Sir, yes sir.'

"Good. Now, to the information that we have." She turns to the screen for a moment, waving one hand at the many maps. "We now know that the Morris family has, in fact, been working for F.A. this entire time. They were paid to steal the weapons from the military and the information from us. The Phoenix Foundation has been chasing the Morris family for five years now, and we've been going after the wrong people this whole time."

Mac had placed himself on one of the empty couches while Matty had been speaking, Babette sitting down so close to him that she's practically pressed against his side. Her brown eyes stare down at the ground, her fingers fidgeting with the paperclip B that Mac had given him.

"So, what we're going to do is look for F.A. The last transmission we managed to intercept was him informing the Morris family that they were no longer needed. It's clear now that he-" She cuts off, eyes darting towards where Babette is sitting.

Mac shakes his head slightly at Matty and she gives a nod, shooting him a knowing look as she continues the explanation. He lets out a slightly relieved breath and Babe looks up at him in confusion. He simply shoots her a small smile and then listens to Matty again.

"It turns out that F.A. stands for Fazl Abdulrashid." Matty continues and only Babe can feel the slight flinch that runs through Mac's body at the mention of the name. "He runs a huge organization in the Middle East. They call themselves 'Adil' and they seem to think that they're fighting for the greater good."

"Sure. Greater good my…" Jack trails off with a slight glance in Babette's direction. He shakes his head, scoffing slightly as he continues speaking in an agitated tone. "They don't do nothing for the greater good. They sure weren't thinkin' of anything good when they shot Mac full of lead!"

Matty shoots him a glare and he silences himself quickly, folding his hands tightly in front of his body. She nods slightly and then turns back to the screen, speaking in a low voice. "Mac and Jack, you're officially off the case. You're too close to this, and I can't risk that getting in the way."

Jack splutters slightly and Mac simply frowns, looking down at Babette who had fallen asleep against his side. Matty crosses her arms, waiting for either of them to argue. When they make no move to argue, but don't begin to move either, she claps her hands together and then points at the door.

"I'm taking you off of the Morris Case, or the Adil Case, or whatever you want to call it, which means that you can't be here." Matty lifts both eyebrow slightly before continuing. "We both know what happened after your last encounter with Adil. I only read the file, but it wasn't a pleasant read."

"When someone shoots my boy, I'm going to do something about it. I'm sorry my methods aren't up to your standards." Jack says with an annoyed glare in Matty's direction as he heads towards the door. "If you're tryin' to hold the past over my head like some shameful thing, then I'm sorry, but I don't see why takin' care of my boy is anything to be shameful of.

With that said, Jack leaves the War Room and Mac and Babette quickly follow after him after receiving another glare from Matty. It was at that moment, Babette thinks as she looks back on the moment, that she realized she and Jack Dalton would get along fine. Mac might be something different to her, something more like a father (if she were willing to accept that), she would do anything to take care of him too.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Greetings and salutations my dudes. I have attempted to get back into a normal schedule thing for updating, so let's hope it stays that way. This is more of a filler chapter, so nothing interesting really. Eh...**

 **JustADreamer24: Thanks for another fabulous review! I'm really glad you're liking the story, and I hope my random "mystery" things don't end up annoying you.**

* * *

 **Chapter Twelve**

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" Babe asks as soon as they're sitting in Jack's car, the Texan sitting in the driver's seat and Mac sitting right next to her. "Actually, I'll tell you what I've figure out so far. Basically, I've figure that this group in the Middle East. The Adil, I think is what they were called. This group shot you up." She points at Mac, one eyebrow raised slightly, and she continues as soon as Mac gives a curt nod. "And then Jack over here, he did something crazy to avenge you or whatever. Am I right in my conclusion?"

"Yeah… You're pretty spot on, Babe." Mac mumbles, ignoring the look that Jack shoots him at the sound of the nickname. "Anything else you want to add?"

"Oh, my memory is perfect, I can go on forever." Babe crosses one arm against her chest, the arm in a sling simply resting awkwardly against her body. "So, my birth parents are apparently pretty terrible criminals who just so happened to be working for the guy who kidnapped me. The guy who kidnapped me has a vendetta against you and mister tall, dark, and sulky and I'm guessing that's why he kidnapped me. Your boss and the "think tank" are trying to stop that guy from selling weapons and whatnot around the world…"

"Hey, take a breath kid. You're going to pass out if you don't." Jack says from the front seat before frowning slightly. "Hold on. Tall, dark, and sulky?"

Babette ignores his question and continues with a slightly amused grin. "And, she doesn't want you working on the case because of whatever Jack did to avenge you back in the Middle East. I'm also going to assume that, because they know about me now, your boss doesn't want me around anymore than necessary. I think that's it."

"Yeah, I'd say that you figured everything out." Mac smiles, wrapping an arm around her shoulder with a slight shake of his head. "I'm going to pretend that I didn't notice that you were just trying to show off your awesome brain power. Although, it could use a little work, because there is something that you haven't figured out yet."

"Oh yeah? What didn't I figure out?" She asks in a slightly defensive tone, even though her singular functioning arm doesn't exactly make her seem that intimidating.

"That I just got a text from the legal office and your papers have been filed." He grins, ruffling her hair up with one hand as he laughs slightly. "The Senator is no longer in charge of your little ball of craziness."

"That Senator man is a real awful person." Jack says over the excited squeaking noise that escapes the teenager. "I mean, he just forced his way into the Phoenix infirmary and decided to get rid of ya while you were still _in_ the infirmary. Who does that?"

He doesn't get a response and he looks in the rearview mirror, smiling ever so slightly at the sight that meets him. The girl had wrapped her uninjured arm tightly around Mac and then proceeded to press her face into his chest as Mac wrapped his uninjured arm around her in return. Mac presses a quick kiss to the back of her head and Jack smiles, looking back towards the road with a slight sigh.

"So, Mac, tell me one thing. Why do you call her Babe?"

"It's just a nickname, Jack. It's short for Babette, which is kind of her name."

"Yeah, I know what her name is. But, just like you said it, it's pronounced ba-bet. Ain't it?" Jack scratches his chin, looking in the mirror back at Mac. "Not babe-et."

"Really Jack? You need to question the nickname I gave her?" Mac laughs slightly, keeping his arm around Babe as she shifts in the chair. "I'll have you know that it's based on spelling and _not_ pronunciation."

"Well, that don't make no sense." Jack shakes his head, making a slightly annoyed mumbling noise. "Now I have to keep track of two geniuses. I better get paid double."

"The plural of genius is actually genii and, I'm not technically a genius anyways, so you only have Mac to keep track of." Babette interjects with a smile. "I only have an eidetic memory."

"Mhm… What's that mean then. Eidetic?"

"She has a photographic memory." Mac amends with a slight grin. "So, she's not actually smart."

Jack laughs at the indignant squeak that escapes the sixteen-year-old. He looks back towards the road, smiling to himself as he turns into the driveway of Mac's house and then shuts the car off. It's only as he's going around the side of the car to help Mac out that he suddenly realizes something.

"Bozer ain't gonna be happy." He says as soon as he helps Mac out of the car, one arm around him to help him hobble along.

Mac makes a slight groaning noise that Jack is sure is only partially due to the pain of his cracked ribs and the gunshot wound. He shakes his head, chuckling softly as he helps Mac towards the those. Babette follows closely behind them, her injured arm bouncing up and down slightly against her chest.

"Bozer's here too?" She asks with a slightly excited smile, bouncing into the house after them. "I haven't seen him in forever."

"Yeah, he's here, and he isn't going to be happy that I've been staying away from you." Mac mumbles, letting Jack lead him towards the couch where a very angry looking Bozer sits. Babe can hear Mac mumble something that sounds an awful lot like 'speak of the devil' as Jack helps him sit down next to Bozer.

"So, Mac." Bozer glares slightly in Mac's direction, steepling his hands under his chin and watching Mac with a very careful eye. "It turns out that you've known where Babette has been this entire time. I remember you telling me that you couldn't find her when you came back from the army, yet here she is."

Babette bites at her lower lip, watching the two of them with a slightly worried expression. She can feel Mac's arm tightening around her waist and she leans her head against his shoulder, her eyes closing tightly. Mac rubs at her side in a comforting gesture, opening his mouth to argue before Bozer suddenly cuts him off again with a slightly angry grumble.

"You know what? I don't actually care why you did it." He raises his hands slightly and stands from the couch, making a move to head towards his room. "I understand that I'm just a low level lab technician that isn't allowed to know anything."

"Is it actually that important to you?" Mac asks in confusion, one eyebrow lifting slightly as he looks over at Bozer.

"No… Not really." He sighs, sitting back down on the couch with a shake of his head. "I just wish I could know what's going on."

"Hey, I don't even know all that's going on right now." Jack interjects, sitting down across from them on the smaller couch. "So we're all in the same boat."

Bozer and Mac both nod, looking around the room for a moment before glancing at each other. Mac cracks a slight grin and then Bozer shakes his head, a small laugh escaping him. Jack laughs softly as well, his eyes trailing around to room to rest on Babe who had fallen asleep against Mac's side. Mac follows his gaze and then smiles fondly, placing his hand gently against the back of her head and carding it through her hair.

"Seems like you need to put your kiddo to bed, kid." Jack says, shooting Mac a slight smile and then nodding in the direction of the hallway. "You could use some rest too, Mac. You got shot. Or did that fact slip your mind?"

Mac shoots him a slight glare before smiling and giving a very small nod. "Would you mind helping then, Jack? I do happen to have one functioning arm at the moment."

"You're real funny." He mumbles, his further complaints drowned out by Bozer's laughter as he stands. He picks Babette up carefully, laying her head back against his shoulder as he follows Mac towards his room. Mac pushes the door open slowly, gesturing for Jack to lay Babe on the bed.

"Thanks, Jack." He says softly as he sits on the edge of the bed, one arm wrapping around Babe's shoulders.

"Of course kid." Jack grins, ruffling Mac's hair up with one hand before he heads towards the door. "You get some sleep. We'll try and convince Matty to let us do something tomorrow."

"Really?" Mac raises one eyebrow, amusement glittering in his eyes as he stretches out on the bed and then shifts slightly to rest Babette against his side. "You're going to talk to Matty the Hun, just so that you can be part of the case we got kicked off of?"

"Yes. Now shut up and go to sleep." Jack says with a slight grin, turning towards the door to go keep Bozer company and attempt to stop him from making obscene amounts amounts of food.

"Yessir." Mac mumbles, a smile on his face as he lays back and eventually falls asleep.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Um... So, I really suck at updating this. I don't really have any excuse except for just saying that life has been really hectic lately. I also just haven't been feeling the story lately. I never really had any intent for this to be a super amazing story, but the original idea is just not working in my mind right now and I don't know exactly how I want to continue honestly. Anyways... I'm not going to be giving up on this story, but I don't know how often I'll update.**

 **TwinTigerLover: It probably feels that way because it is. I don't really take my time expanding extremely detailed stories for FanFiction because it's mostly just for fun and to help with writer's block on my novel. So, just fair warning, don't expect to get too much improvement.**

* * *

 **Chapter Thirteen**

Babe shifts in her sleep, her eyes moving around beneath her eyelids as she makes slight squeaking noises. This continues for a moment before her eyes snap open and she looks around, breathing slowing as she sees Mac laying next to her. The girl pulls at Mac's sleeve, hand shaking slightly from the residual fear of the nightmare. Mac's eyes open slowly, his uninjured arm lifting to touch Babe's shoulder. He shakes it slightly before looking her in the eye and asking a quiet question.

"Are you alright? What happened?"

"Bad dream." She mumbles quietly before burying her face in his shoulder. Her shoulders shake slightly as she wraps an arm around him, her breath sounding like panicked gasps. "G-get breakfast?"

"Of course. Yeah, um… Yeah, let's go get you something to eat." Mac speaks quietly, his eyes drifting over to where the clock sits on his nightstand. The glowing numbers showing him that it was far too early to be awake, especially if one was trying to recover from being shot, but he simply nods and stands from the bed.

Babette swings her legs over the edge and then stands slowly, one hand reaching around to fiddle with the strap of her sling. Mac watches for a moment as she struggles with it before finally undoing the strap and slipping her arm out of the sling. He lifts one eyebrow in question and Babe simply gives a small shrug in response.

"You know the doctor gave you that for a reason, right? And it wasn't just for decoration."

"Yeah, but my arm's not even broken. I just bruised the bones a little bit." Babe rubs her hand against her shoulder, as if to prove her point. "Besides, you're the one that got shot. Shouldn't you be the one with the sling?"

Mac glares slightly before ruffling her hair with one hand and throwing an arm around her shoulders. He leads her out of the room, the slight laugh that escapes him the only response to her questions. He has her sit down at the counter in the kitchen and then pulls open the fridge, looking through it for a moment.

"What time is it? Why's your friend on the couch? W-what happened to my-"

"Hey… Calm down." Mac turns around, placing his hand on the back of her head and rubbing his thumb against it in circles. "Stop using that memory for a second. You promise me? I'm going to get you something to eat and then-" He pauses, his eyes narrowing slightly as he realizes what she just said. "Wait, someone's on my couch?"

He turns around, glancing in the direction of the living room and then smiling slightly to himself. It seems that Jack had decided to stay and had now taken control of the couch. His jacket is thrown across the back of the couch and an old, scrappy blanket is draped over him as he sleeps. Mac shakes his head slightly and then looks back at Babe, his hand still placed against the back of her head.

"What do you want to eat?" He asks before placing a kiss to the top of her head and ruffling up the messy black strands of her hair. "You want some cereal?"

"I n-need to know the answers… Please, just tell me." She says instead of responding, her eyes wide and her voice slightly shaky. It's clear now that she was still shaken up by whatever nightmare she'd had, and so she had fallen back on the only thing she could really control, asking people questions.

"Alright… I'm going to get you some food and then we can talk." Mac speaks quietly, so as not to wake up Jack who was still sleeping on his couch. "Just stay calm, alright?"

"Yeah… I will." She mumbles, gripping the front of his shirt and pressing her forehead against his shoulder. She squeezes her eyes shut and then leans closer to him, her bottom lip wobbling slightly. "They're dead. Aren't they?"

"W-what?" Mac asks, looking down at her with a slight frown. He keeps a hand on the back of her head and then hugs her with his free arm. "What do you mean?"

"It's true. I know it is." She says quietly, her eyes still shut and her voice muffled by her position smushed against Mac's shoulder.

"Okay. Let's forget breakfast for now." He says as he hugs Babe against his chest, having helped her hop down from the stool by now. "I'll tell you what's going on. Everything's fine though. I promise you."

Babette gives a stilted nod, her breathing catching in the back of throat as she tightly wraps her arms around him. She mutters nonsensical words under her breath as Mac leads her over to the living room. He sits her down on the couch across from where Jack is stretched out and then sits down next to her. He cards a hand through her hair before looking down at her and making a slight sighing noise.

"Okay… What do you want to know?" He asks after a moment's thought, keeping his voice low so as not to wake Jack. He keeps one arm around her shoulder and then stretches his other arm across the back of the couch.

"What's going on?" She asks quietly, her head falling over to rest on his shoulder. She looks up at him, brown eyes blinking slowly as she asks her next question. "What happened to my parents?"

"Gosh… You really ask some tough questions." Mac says after a moment, letting out a slight puff of air. He presses a soft kiss to the side of her head before he speaks again in a low tone. "Well… you know what's happening. I had to… I chose to stay away to protect you from your parents, but then the man they're working for found out about you. He kidnapped you so that he could get to me for some reason or other."

Babette looks up at him, her eyes widening slightly as she waits for him to continue. It's true that she had said most of this before, but she needed Mac to tell her. She'd figured everything out, but she desperately needed someone to tell her she was right, or wrong for that matter. She just needed someone to say something to her. She lowers her gaze slightly, seeing something out of the corner of her eye but quickly shaking her head and looking back at Mac.

"Um… I don't know exactly why he wanted to get to me, but I think it's because of what Jack did. Which I can't tell you about, by the way." Mac quickly says before Babette can say anything else. "As for you parents… Well, I'm sure you figured it out yourself. They didn't really do what their boss needed them to do and… we think that he killed them."

Babette sucks in a sharp breath, her eyes squeezing shut as she leans against Mac's shoulder. She sniffles slightly, the sixteen-year-old seemingly not worrying about the fact that she had been acting like a child. She can feel Mac rubbing a hand up and down against her back as he lets her rest against him. The two sit in silence for only a few moments before a familiar Texan drawl can be heard popping up from the couch across from them.

"That's a bit of a rough thing to wake up to in the morning."

Babe jumps slightly at the sudden noise, curling in on herself and leaning even closer to Mac. She chews on her lower lip as she lifts her head slightly, seemingly recognizing the voice and feeling slightly embarrassed. A faint pink color creeps up onto her face as she peeks over Mac's shoulder to glance in Jack's direction.

"Sorry about scaring you there, girly." Jack chuckles softly, shifting into a sitting position on the couch. His amused expression quickly leaves, however, and he looks over at Mac. "We still up for doing this?"

"I don't know Jack… Why do you want to be part of this mission anyways?" Mac lifts one eyebrow as he asks the question. He then lets out a slightly frustrated sounding sigh and leans his head back against the couch.

"This man not only kidnapped the girl… Babette, I mean. He also took you and had you shot." Jack raises his voice slightly as he continues, an angry expression on his face. "Oh yeah, and the fact that he nearly killed you!"

"I get that Jack, but I'm sure that Matty has the best agents looking for him." Mac clenches his jaw before relaxing slightly and glancing in Jack's direction. "Revenge isn't worth the risk that this might entail. Besides, I'm pretty sure that the whole reason he's doing all this is for revenge."

Jack opens his mouth to speak before shaking his head and snapping his mouth shut again. He runs a hand over his face and then lets out a frustrated groan. "You really are a difficult one, you know that? But… I guess you're right."

"Yeah, I know I'm right." Mac grins and then waggles his eyebrows slightly. "Anyways, it's really early and I'm sure Babe is hungry. I'm going to go make some pancakes."

"Wait, one question before you move." Jack holds a hand up, gesturing for Mac to sit back down on the couch.

Mac stops and then shoots Jack a slightly curious expression. Babe, who had been leaning against Mac with her eyes closed, now cracks one open to look over at Jack. The Texan simply shrugs and then asks the question with an amused quirk of his lips.

"Why in the world is her nickname Babe? That's about as ridiculous as it comes."

"Yeah, it is ridiculous, but don't expect to be allowed to call me that." Babe suddenly cuts in, her arms crossed against her chest and one eyebrow lifted slightly. "You are allowed to call me Babette or B."

Mac snorts with laughter as he stands from the couch, extending an arm to Babe and pulling her up as well. She seemed to have calmed down considerably, but there's still a slightly worried expression on her face that is hidden behind her smile. She lets Mac take her into the kitchen and she can hear Jack laughing behind her.

"Alright… Let's see what we can-" Mac's sentence is cut off by loud knocking at the front door and he frowns slightly in confusion. "I'll… I'm going to go see who that is. Don't move."

Mac points a finger in Babe's direction before turning around and heading towards the door. He swings the door open and then makes a slightly shocked expression as he looks at the person standing on his doorstep. Stepping away from the doorway, he gestures for the person to step into the house before speaking in a low tone.

"What are you doing here? I thought you said that you had the case under control."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: So, greetings and salutations my dudes. I hope that you're enjoying this really random story that my brain has come up with. I am extremely sorry about how long this took for me to update. My life's just become really hectic as of late and I don't know how often updates will me.**

 **Long Live BRUCAS: Thank you for your lovely review! I love when people start to question my story in the reviews. It just amuses me for some reason XD... Anyways, these things shall be revealed soon. Also, I'm really glad that's how Babe and Jack are coming off, because that's how I wanted it to be. Yeah, they're both protective of Mac and they're sort jealous of each other.**

 **TerriJ: I'm glad you're enjoying this! I hope I didn't make you wait too long.**

* * *

 **Chapter Fourteen**

Matty sighs as she steps into the house behind Mac, her arms crossed against her chest as she turns to look at him with a slightly tired expression. "He contacted us again. He knows that you, and I quote, "have your little girly back, but shouldn't expect her to be here for long" and he also claims that we can't stop him from getting revenge."

"So, it is all for revenge." Mac gives a small nod of his head and then looks over at Matty as a large frown appears on his face. "I assume you came here for information?"

"Mac!" Babette's slightly whiny shout of annoyance cuts off any response that Matty might have given. He shoots Matty a sheepish smile before turning around and going into the next room to take care of whatever might have arisen.

Matty follows Mac into the next room, stopping just near the entryway and leaning against the wall to watch. She shakes her head a bit, although the amused smile that appears on her face is quite apparent and she makes no move to hide it. It appears that, while Mac had gone to the door, Jack had proceeded to annoy Babe by bombarding her with ridiculous questions. The girl now sits at the kitchen counter, arms crossed against her chest, and Jack is still sitting on the couch with a wide grin on his face.

"Are you bothering my-" Mac stops and then shakes his head slightly before starting again. "Are you bothering her, Jack?"

"Yes, he is."

"Of course not, Mac."

Mac lifts one eyebrow and then looks between the two of them. He shakes his head and then gives a faint laugh as he walks toward the kitchen. Walking up to the girl, he gently pats Babe's shoulder and then leans against the counter. As he glances over at Matty, a slight frown appears on his face and his tone lowers slightly.

"Uh… Jack. Matty needs to talk to both of us about the case."

Babette looks over at Mac, a slightly worried expression appearing on her face as she begins to pull at the edge of her sleeve. Mac subconsciously moves to stand next to her and then places a hand on top of her head, softly ruffling up her dark hair. Babe leans closer to him, her eyes flickering shut for a split second before she opens them again.

"Course, let's get this over and done with." Jack stands from the couch and then walks over to where Matty is standing at the doorway. She nods and then heads towards the deck, waving a hand for Jack to follow her. Mac makes a move to go with them, but Matty shakes her head at him and motions for him to stop.

"I'll talk to you separately. I think it's best if someone stays with the kid." Matty pauses at the door to the deck and she looks in Mac's direction. She then continues speaking as she heads out the door. "I'll have Jack send you out when I'm done."

Mac doesn't give a verbal response, simply giving a quick nod of his head and then turning to look down at Babette again. When he looks down at her, he gives a faint smile and ruffles her hair once more. The girl sits against the counter and her eyes slowly blink shut, her mouth cracked open in a yawn. Every so often, she jerks slightly and her eyes snap open, waking her once more.

"Alright, back to sleep," Mac says in a stern tone, although there's a faint smile on his face. Mac keeps his injured arm tucked against his body and he lifts his other hand to gently rest on top of her head. "You can sleep on the couch, if you want. I'll sit with you."

"I'm not-" She cuts off her sentence with a loud yawn, the corners of her eyes crinkling slightly. She then leans forward and presses her forehead against Mac's shoulder. "M'kay… Five minutes."

"Good. Looks like you've _finally_ decided to listen to me." Mac keeps one hand on Babe's back as he leads her toward the couch, his eyes scanning the room. He then sits her down and places himself on the couch next to her. The girl rests her head in Mac's lap and then turns to bury her face in his side, smiling slightly as Mac drapes a blanket over her.

* * *

"You need to keep her somewhere safe until we're sure that they won't be coming for her. And I think it's best if you and Jack stay with her as well."

Babette wakes with her face still buried in Mac's side and the sound of Matty speaking just a few feet away. Deciding that she wants to listen in on what's being said, she keeps her eyes closed and snuggles closer to Mac. She can feel Mac place a hand on top of her head before he responds to Matty in a low voice.

"That's probably for the best. After what happened…"

"What exactly happened? I talked to Jack, but I want to know your side of the story."

They hadn't talked then. Babette makes a faint humming noise in thought before falling silent and lying still. Maybe Jack had left, because why else would they be talking in here? Wouldn't they want to talk in private?

"We were sent to rescue some researchers that had been kidnapped by the Adil. At that time, we had no idea who was in charge and so they told us that, if we could, we should try to gather some intel too."

Mac pauses in his explanation to run a hand over his face, his hand temporarily lifting from Babe's head. He then shifts slightly on the couch and his hand is quickly returned to its spot atop the girl's head. Babette can hear him sigh softly as he then begins speaking again.

"Jack and I were sent in, along with some other men in our squadron, and we went ahead so that I could disarm any bombs that might have been placed. Luckily, the few that there were didn't take me too long and so we continued towards their main base of operations. We managed to get in without much issue and we started to get the prisoners out of the building. But, the only way to get out safely was for me to set a charge and blow out the back wall because the Adil had sent in reinforcements to come track us down."

Matty shifts into a seated position on the tabletop across from Mac and then gives a small nod. Mac had paused to glance in Matty's direction and to ensure she was following along, but upon seeing her give a quick nod, he speaks again in the same slow tone. Babette shifts slightly, still pretending to be asleep as she listens in on what Mac is saying.

"I managed to make the explosive and set it on the back wall. That all went off without a hitch but, as we were getting all of the prisoners out, the reinforcements came in. Jack and the prisoners had already gotten out of the building and were heading toward the transport. I was just getting through and was heading toward the transport myself, but they got to me first. They shot at me before I had a chance to take cover and I took several rounds to the back."

"You would have had Kevlar, wouldn't you?"

"I did, but they used illegal armor-piercing bullets. Piercing the armor slowed them significantly, but they all still managed to go pretty deep into my skin and do a lot of damage. They almost grabbed me before Jack came in, guns ablaze, and shot down most of the men. I was pretty banged up and was pretty much unconscious for the rest of the mission."

"Yeah, Jack told me that he scooped you up off the ground and dragged you to the transport. Said the rest of your team was able to keep the men at bay while he got you to safety. He also said that your team was able to gather the intel you needed."

"That's what I was told too. Sorry to say I can't really confirm any of that except that we did get the intel. For everything else, blacked out from the pain."

"So, they want to get revenge on you and Jack for… stealing their intel? Blowing up half of his base? Why exactly are they out to get you?"

"Well, in part, it is because of all of that. But, F.A. was also believed to have been caught in the rubble that was a chain reaction of the explosion. He's supposedly horribly scarred because of it."

"Oh, revenge for the loss of his _beautiful_ face. That's an even more ridiculous reason for revenge."

Mac simply gives a small nod of his head and then sighs loudly, his eyes flickering toward the cieling for a moment. He keeps one hand atop Babette's head and gently strokes her hair as he shifts his gaze to glance at Matty. He purses his lips in thought and is silent for a few more moments before he speaks again.

"And Jack wants to find him and his little group because he still hates them for nearly killing me."

"Alright, I think that's as much information as we're going to get." Matty suddenly stands and gives a small nod of her head before she begins heading towards the door. When she reaches the door to the entryway, she turns around and pauses for a moment. "I don't want to see you back at work until Monday."

"But-"

"No, you got shot and you're going to stay here and rest. No complaints."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I'm really sorry about how delayed I am in getting these chapters up. I promise that I'm not quitting on the story, but I also can't promise that I'll have a consistent schedule. Life has gotten hectic and** **my anxiety has been particularly bad for the past few weeks, but I"m getting a bit better, so I'll try to keep up. I'm also going to be changing the tense of the writing from now on, so sorry if that's a little bit confusing.**

 **Long Live BRUCAS: Yeah, Babe and Jack are definitely going to be friends sooner or later. Now that they're all a happy family again. XD**

 **anonymousnerd11: Hmm... We shall see. ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter Fifteen**

As soon as Matty had left, Mac had switched the TV on to some science show and then sat back on the couch. Since he had the last two days of the week and then the weekend before he could even think about going into the Phoenix, he was trying to find something to cure his current restlessness. Babe, on the other hand, was still pretending to sleep with her face pressed into Mac's side and one hand gripping the edge of her blanket. She stayed silent for a few moments longer before she shifted and then slowly blinked her eyes open to stare up at Mac.

Mac let his gaze flick toward her and, upon meeting her gaze, flashed her a slight smile. Gently brushing a hand against her forehead, he started speaking in a low tone as he looked down at her. "Did you sleep okay, kiddo?"

"Mhm..." She nodded slightly before sitting up and lightly resting her head against Mac's shoulder. "Missed you."

"Yeah? I missed you too, B." He gently ruffled her hair up with one hand, a slightly amused grin appearing on his face. "What would I have done without my favorite kiddo?"

"Dunno." She mumbled into his shoulder as she turned to bury her face in his shirt. One hand lifted to grab at the fabric of his shirt, her fingers twisting it into a knot.

"I'm just glad I got you back." Mac's voice was faint and there was a solemn expression on his face as he continued to card a hand through her hair. "I'm sorry I couldn't find you sooner."

Babe lifted her head from his shoulder for a short moment, just long enough to flash Mac a smile, before she pressed her face into his shoulder again. The young girl's voice sounded muffled through the fabric of Mac's shirt, but it was just clear enough that Mac could hear what she was saying.

"It's not your fault. You had to do your job."

"When did you get so smart?" Mac teased as he leaned back on the couch, his head tilted back to stare up at the ceiling as a small smile pulled at the corners of his mouth.

Babe didn't even dignify that with a verbal response and she simply gave a snort of laughter, her head rolling slightly to look up at Mac. Her eyes glittered with amusement as she watched the fingers of his free hand tapping in a quick pattern against the couch. She stayed silent, however, one hand dragging the blanket up over her shoulders.

"So, my boss says that we might have to stay here for a while. And we might even have to go somewhere else, just in case." Mac paused, his eyes scanning the girl's face for a moment before he spoke again. "We'll stay here until Monday and then we can go to the Phoenix and see what to do."

"Does that mean we can do nothing?"

"It means that I'm ordering pizza." Mac laughed as he stretched one arm out to grab the phone that sat on the nearby side table. "It also means that Jack is probably going to invite himself over."

Babe had initially beamed at the mention of pizza but now frowned slightly as Jack's name was brought up. It wasn't that she didn't like the man, because there was certainly nothing wrong with him. She simply didn't know what to do when he was around since he and Mac seemed to get along so well. He was like her Mac, except for Mac. Yeah, he was Mac's Mac... If that made any sense.

"Oh, come on. Jack isn't that bad." Mac ruffled her hair and she swatted his hand, a slight laugh escaping her. She was quickly, and kindly, shushed as the pizza place answered and Mac began to place their order.

Babe began to pick at the corner of her blanket, eyes bouncing between her hands and the TV screen. The dull ache from her previously dislocated shoulder had disappeared for a while but had suddenly made itself known the longer she sat there. Pressing her head against Mac's shoulder, she tucked her arms tight against her chest and squeezed her eyes shut.

Mac, ever vigilante, immediately noticed and glanced down at the girl. He moved his hand from resting atop her head to gently squeezing her shoulder in a questioning gesture. Babe cracked one eye open to look up at him and simply bounced one shoulder up and down in a slight shrugging gesture. He shook his head and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her to his chest and resting his chin on her head.

"Do you want me to get something for your shoulder?" He accompanied the question with a slight tilt of his head, worry crossing his face for a split second. "I can get some painkillers. Or an ice pack."

"I'm alright." Sensing that Mac was going to further argue with her, she accentuated her point and added, "I am."

"Fine, but I can get something if it hurts any more. Just tell me an-"

"You can stop worrying so much. I'm not the one that got shot in the arm." She shook her head and then gave a slightly humorless laugh as she quirked an eyebrow. After a moment of staring him down, she lowered her head back down onto his shoulder and turned her gaze to the screen.

Mac sighed and glanced in the direction of the TV as well, although his thoughts were certainly not on what was currently playing. He felt so useless and he couldn't figure out what to do to make that feeling stop. He had found Babette and he was taking care of her, so why did he still feel like he did something wrong? Maybe it was still just the guilt of having left her along for so long. That wasn't likely to be a quick-healing wound, after all.


End file.
